KENDRAPARA: Mystery shrouds the death of two school students whose bodies were found in a pond at Bandhakuda village within Marshaghai police limits here on Wednesday.
Police identified the deceased as Durga Prasad Mahapatra and Dipanshu Mahapatra, both 13 years old and Class VII students of Bandhakuda school.
Sources said the students had gone to the house of a teacher to attend tuition classes on Tuesday afternoon. When they did not return home by evening, worried family members started a search but failed to trace them.
In the wee hours of Wednesday, some villagers who went to collect water from the pond spotted the bodies of the two minors floating in the water body. On being informed, police rushed to the spot and seized the bodies for postmortem.
Parents of both the deceased students suspected that some miscreants might have murdered the minors and threw their bodies in the pond. They demanded a thorough investigation into the incident.
However, police said prima facie, it appears that the students went to the pond, accidently slipped into deep water and drowned. IIC of Marshaghai police station Purnachandra Pattayat said a case of unnatural death has been registered in this connection.
“We sent the bodies to Kendrapara district headquarters hospital for autopsy. The exact reason behind the deaths will be ascertained after the postmortem report arrives. Further investigation is underway,” he added. Meanwhile, a pall of gloom descended on Bandhakuda and nearby villages after news of the minors’ death spread in the area.