Raisen (MP): Seven youngsters were drowned at Mahadevpani lake in Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, police said today. The incident took place yesterday when the picnickers from Bhopal ventured into the waterbody to save a youth from drowning, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sunil Jain told reporters.

According to police, the deceased entered the lake one after another after they noticed that one Deepak Yadav (18) was drowning but could not come out. Jain said the bodies of seven victims Anil Yadav (20), Ramkumar Sahu (22), Mona Yadav (17), Mahendra Yadav (18), Mohamaed Zeeshan, Mohammad Asif and Deepak Yadav (18) were fished out last night by the Bhopal Municipal Corporation divers.

Raisen Collector M L Meena said chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to the kin of the deceased.