Two days on, no sign of boy who drowned in Hindon River

A resident of Hindan Vihar, Anas was playing with his friends, Aman and Faizal on Tuesday afternoon, when he slipped and fell into the river.

Two days after a 10-year-old boy drowned in Hindon River, there is no sign of him. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been searching for the boy, Anas, since Tuesday evening and have nothing to show for it but his shoes.

Rescue teams search for Anas, the 10-year-old who drowned in the river while playing with his friends. Two days on, there is no sign of him. (HT Photo)

A resident of Hindan Vihar, Anas was playing with his friends, Aman and Faizal on Tuesday afternoon when he slipped and fell into the river. According to his father, Md Irfan, Anas was trying to catch fish in the river with his friends at around 3 pm after he returned from school. The incident occurred right below GT Road bridge.

“After Anas fell in the river at around 3, his friends, who are of his age, got scared and returned to their homes. At around 5 pm my wife started looking for Anas and went to Aman’s house. That is when we found out that Anas had fallen in the river. She called me and I immediately called the police,” said Irfan, who deals in plastic bags.

NDRF teams were alerted about the incident after police reached the spot.

“Anas’s friends said he slipped into the river while trying to catch something in the river with a tree branch. We informed the NDRF teams to fetch out the body of the child,” said Manish Mishra, circle officer (city), Ghaziabad.

A team of 10 NDRF personnel reached the spot at around 7 pm on Tuesday and started their search. Officials said that monsoon is adding difficulty in searching for the boy.

“The river is muddy and its flow is very heavy due to heavy rains and this is the reason why it is taking so long to look for the boy. The river bed has a lot of undergrowth and chances are that the body is entangled in it. There are also chances that the body has gone kilometers away with the river flow,” said PK Srivastava, commandant, NDRF, Ghaziabad.

Anas’s family has been in trauma since the incident. He was the youngest of three siblings.

“My wife has been crying since the past two days. She is still waiting for him to come back as she doesn’t believe he is dead yet. Until we find the body, I will also keep looking for him,” said Irfan, Anas’s father.