Two children, believed to be between eight and 10 years old, drowned in the Kodagu Pater River near Ghuranadih village in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on Friday. Police are continuing to search for a third child who is believed to have been with them.
The incident came to light after local residents spotted the bodies in and around the river and alerted the police. One body was found in the river current, while the other was recovered from the riverbank.
According to preliminary information, the three children, who were friends, had gone to the river in the morning for a picnic. They reportedly cooked and ate pasta before entering the river to bathe. They are suspected to have ventured into deeper water while swimming and drowned.
A police team reached the spot and, with the help of villagers, recovered the two bodies. The victims have not yet been identified. Police are making inquiries in nearby villages and checking the belongings recovered from the site to establish their identities.
The search for the third child remains underway. Police are examining two possibilities — that the child may have also drowned or that he managed to get out of the river and left the area.
Two bicycles, three pairs of slippers, two bags and other belongings were recovered during the search. Police are examining these items for clues that could help identify the children and establish what happened.
The bodies have been sent for postmortem examination. Officials said further details are expected to emerge as the search operation and investigation progress.
With inputs from IANS