Three boys, who were missing since Thursday, were found dead on the bank of a rivulet in Billawar tehsil of Kathua district, officials said on Friday.
The boys -- Sheetal Kumar, 18; Pankaj Sharma, 17; and his namesake Pankaj Sharma, 16 -- used to study in Class 11 of a government school and lived in Billawar’s Badola Baggan village.
Billawar station house officer Sunil Sharma said, “We found their bodies near Beeni nullah today. It seems to be a case of drowning. It appears that they were stuck in a whirlpool and could not get out of it. They had bunked their school on Thursday.”
He said the post-mortem examination was being conducted by a team of doctors to ascertain the exact cause of their death.
“Inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC have been initiated,” he added.