Agra, May 9 -- The court of District Sessions Judge Vikas Kumar in Mathura denied bail to the boatman incharge of the boat that capsized in the Yamuna in Vrindavan leading to the deaths of 16 devotees from Ludhiana on April 10. The bail application was moved on behalf of Dauji aka Pappu, the boatman. The boat had left from Kesi Ghat in Vrindavan on April 10. There were 38 devotees on the boat and were part of a group that came from Ludhiana in Punjab to visit religious places and temples in Mathura and Vrindavan. The boatman was blamed by survivors for not paying any heed to their request of taking the boat back to the ghat after they saw a pontoon bridge being dismantled on the way. Sessions Judge Vikas Kumar stated that 16 precious lives were lost in the boat tragedy and no valid reason was specified for the boatman being framed falsely, as claimed in the bail application. With investigation on, the Sessions Judge found no sufficient ground for bail and rejected the application on Thursday. The incident occurred on April 10 when 38 devotees were on a boat ride from Kesi Ghat in Vrindavan. They were part of a 132-member group, mostly from Jagraon town in Ludhiana district of Punjab. A magisterial inquiry was ordered by Mathura district magistrate Chandra Prakash Singh who directed additional district magistrate (Finance and Revenue) Pankaj Kumar to conduct the probe. Boatman Dauji aka Pappu (38) and contractor Narain Thekedar (52) were booked for culpable homicide (Section 105 BNS) at Mant police station of Mathura after being found prima facie negligent, and were subsequently arrested. A case was registered against the boatman, and the contractor who was overseeing the removal of a pontoon bridge using a JCB. The boat reportedly collided with the bridge, leading to the accident. The contractor had initiated the shifting of the unsecured pontoon bridge with the help of the machine. Despite warnings from devotees on board, both the contractor and the boatman allegedly ignored the alarms, resulting in the boat capsizing and causing the deaths ....