Four youths drown in Sutlej in Punjab’s SBS Nagar district

The victims were among a dozen youths who had gone to take bath in the river at Aauliyapur village near Balachaur town

Four youths, aged between 17 and 21 years, drowned after jumping into the Sutlej for a bath in Punjab’s SBS Nagar district on Saturday evening.

The victims were aged between 17 and 21 years and belonged to families of labourers.

They have been identified as Hardeep Kumar, Sandeep, Happy, and Nitin of Balachaur town in the district. Senior superintendent of police Alka Meena said their bodies were recovered with the help of divers.

The four were among dozen youths who had gone to the river at Aauliyapur village near Balachaur around 3pm. As the four ventured into the deep waters, they got stuck and drowned. The other youths rushed back and informed police.

Lal Bahadur, a local councillor, said all the victims belonged to families of labourers. Happy was the only child of his parents. Police have initiated inquest proceedings. Bodies will be handed over to family members after postmortem on Sunday.