Bodies of four missing children found in water-filled pit in Meja

According to preliminary findings, the children are believed to have accidentally fallen into the pit while playing.

The bodies of four children who went missing from Bedouli village in the Meja area on Tuesday were found floating in a water-filled pit near a brick kiln on Wednesday morning. Among the deceased, two were siblings while the other two were neighbours.

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Upon receiving information, Meja police station in-charge Rajesh Upadhyay and ACP (Meja) SP Upadhyay arrived at the scene. The bodies were first taken to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Ramnagar, where doctors declared all four children dead. They were later sent for post-mortem examination.

Bedouli village, located under the jurisdiction of the Meja police station, is home to a tribal colony where most residents work either as labourers at a nearby brick kiln or under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). A large pit dug by the kiln operator to extract mud had filled with rainwater, creating a hazardous site near the colony.

On Tuesday evening, around 5 pm, after returning from working in the fields, local residents discovered that four children were missing: Hunar (5) and Vaishnavi (3), son and daughter of Hira Adivasi; Khesari Lal (5), son of Sanjay Adivasi; and Kanha (5), son of Vimal Adivasi.

At approximately 6 am on Wednesday, villagers searching the area found the bodies of the children floating in the water-filled pit near the brick kiln.

Following it, ACP Meja and SDM (Meja) Surendra Pratap Yadav visited the site. According to preliminary findings, the children are believed to have accidentally fallen into the pit while playing.

The authorities have initiated further investigation. SDM Meja announced that financial assistance of ₹4 lakh will be provided to each of the affected families.