Six students drown in Mayurakshi river

Six teenagers who skipped school to swim in Mayurakshi River drowned on Wednesday afternoon near Hathiya Pathar village in Dumka.

Six teenagers who skipped school to swim in Mayurakshi River drowned on Wednesday afternoon near Hathiya Pathar village in Dumka.

Nine boys of SS Vidhya Vihar School, aged between 13 and 14, had gone to the river on their bikes. Six of them took the plunge into the river but didn’t come up. Rest of the students ran away out of fear without informing anyone. Later in the evening, they gathered the courage and reported the incident to the police.

Superintendent of Police Bipul Shukla said, “The incident occurred around 11.30 am. Those boys who had survived the incident informed the local police at 4 pm in the evening, he said.

The police have recovered the bodies of three students, three others are feared dead.

The locals said the villagers had warned the boys not to enter the river, but they did not pay heed. The victims couldn’t have swum back up as the river was roaring with life after the rains.

“Sadar sub-divisional officer Sudhir Kumar and DSP Peetamabr Singh Kherwar along with the local police are camping at the spot. Divers are trying to fish out the bodies of the boys,” Shukla said.

When night crept in, divers gave up their search for the day. And on the side of the banks sat two motorcycles the students came riding.