CUTTACK: In a tragic incident a minor drowned and another still missing in the Kuakhai river at Pratap Nagari within Cuttack Sadar police limit on Wednesday. The boy has been identified as Asutosh Pal (15) of Shikhar Chandi locality, while the missing minor has been identified as Ritu Ranjan Madhi (16) of Patia area in Bhubaneswar.
Five boys aged between 15-16-year-old had reportedly come from Patia and its adjacent localities to Pratap Nagari to participate in Ganesh Puja organised at their friend’s house. But around 1 pm they went to Kuakhai river near the bridge connecting Pratap Nagari and Barang to take bath, three of them slipped and were swept away. Locals somehow managed to rescue one while the other two boys went missing and could not be traced.
“On being informed, we rushed to the spot with ODRAF and Fire Service Team and launched a search operation. The body of Asutosh Pal has been retrieved from the river, the search operation which was halted after evening will resume tomorrow to trace the missing boy,” IIC, Cuttack Sadar police station, Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra said.