3 kids feared drowned in Yamuna, cycles found in Alipur

They had hopped on to three bicycles with two other school friends to go for swimming at around 9.30am on Saturday, according to police

Three boys were feared to have drowned in the Yamuna after they went out swimming in the river in outer Delhi’s Alipur on Saturday, police said on Sunday evening after ending the search operation for the day.

This comes amid the government’s repeated warnings to not go near the river and its floodplains, as the Yamuna’s levels have been hovering near the danger mark for weeks now. (HT Photo)

This comes amid the government’s repeated warnings to not go near the river and its floodplains, as the Yamuna’s levels have been hovering near the danger mark for weeks now.

The search for the missing children, all aged 14 years, began on Saturday night which led police to the trio’s bicycles lying on the banks of the river, but the children could not be traced, said a senior police officer.

The missing children were identified as Rishu, Shivam and Rupesh. They had hopped on to three bicycles with two other school friends to go for swimming at around 9.30am on Saturday, according to police.

The five were students of Class 8 at a government school in Singhu, where they lived with their families, officers said. Two of them had returned by evening, they added

“But when three of them did not return by evening, their parents launched a search before alerting the police at 7.52pm,” said a senior police officer.

Police began a search in and around the river, but did not find any trace of the students. A kidnapping case was then lodged at Alipur police station even as the search was underway.

Meanwhile, locals told police that the two friends classmates who had returned home did not inform anyone about the alleged drowning.

Ramesh, uncle of one of the missing boys Rishu, said that when families of the missing children were informed, they questioned the two boys. “They finally told us that the three boys drowned because of which they got scared and returned home,” he said.

The families of the missing children alerted the police about this fresh information in the early hours of Sunday after which a search was launched again. “We found the bicycles of the children along the river, but are yet to trace them,” said the officer, saying that the missing boys were feared to have drowned.