Brothers, aged 11 and 12 years, drown in pond in Naigaon

The bodies of the two boys were recovered by police and fire brigade officials after a search operation late on Monday evening

MUMBAI: Two boys, aged 11 and 12 years, died on Monday after drowning in a pond near their home in Naigaon. The bodies of the two boys were recovered by police and fire brigade officials after a search operation late on Monday evening.

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According to the police, the two boys, identified as 11-year-old Anshu Sanjay Bidlan and 12-year-old Aaryan Gopinath Yadav, were neighbours. They left their homes at Vakipada in Naigaon East around 1pm on Monday to visit a pond near their neighbourhood.

When the boys did not return home till 4pm, Aaryan’s mother inquired with Anshu’s father, who works as a housekeeping executive. They searched for the two missing boys near home but could not find them, after which they rushed to the pond, as some people in the neighbourhood had last spotted the boys near the pond.

Dinesh Waghri, a friend of the boys’ parents who knew how to swim plunged into the pond to look for the kids. At 5pm, they informed the police who in turn alerted fire brigade officers. Aaryan and Anshu were subsequently fished out from the pond and rushed to the hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival.

The Naigaon police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) in connection with the incident and are probing the matter further. “Neither of the boys knew how to swim. They jumped into the deep end of the pond as they were not able to gauge the depth and drowned in the process,” said a police officer from Naigaon police station.