Indian magician Chanchal Lahiri drowns attempting Houdini trick

Police have confirmed that an Indian magician, lowered into a river while shackled ,in a bid to recreate Harry Houdini’s world-famous trick has drowned.

The magician, Chanchal Lahiri was meant to escape and swim to safety but did not emerge from the hooghly river in west Bengal state.

Crowds who watched him take the plunge alerted the police, who then launched a search operation.

His body washed up 1kilometer from the site of the incident and was identified late on Monday.