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The pond near Tiril Basti, Ranchi, where Sanjit and Rishu drowned on Tuesday. Picture by Hardeep Singh
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Four students, including two in an inebriated state, drowned in separate incidents in Ranchi and Khunti districts on Tuesday.
Second-year St Xavier’s College student Atul Bakhla (22) and friend Anuj Rakesh Tirkey (25) — a first-year student of Hansraj College, Delhi — found their watery grave at Kanchi Bear, 30km from the capital in Khunti police station area. In the other incident, two brothers — aged seven and five and studying in kindergarten — drowned in a pond near their home at Tiril Basti under Ranchi sadar police station.
Khunti SP M. Tamilvanan said Atul and Anuj were on a picnic with eight friends. “They went to the river to take a bath around 3.30pm, but went missing. Their bodies were fished out half an hour later. Bottles of wine indicated that they were drunk when they entered the waters,” he said.
A case of unnatural death has been registered at Khunti police station. Sources said Atul was a resident of Jagannathpur, Ranchi, while Anuj was from Dangra Toli. The former was the first to drown and his friend died saving him, they added.
In the other incident, Sanjit Sao and his younger sibling Rishu — both students of Birsa School and two of four sons of mason Rajesh Sao — had stopped by the pond, 200 metres from home, to play on their way back from school.
According to neighbour Sanjay Tigga, the two children went into the waters but never came out. “Around 4.30pm, their playmates realised that Sanjit and Rishu had not come out of the waters and raised an alarm. A search was conducted and the bodies fished out,” Tigga added.
Officer in charge of sadar police station Jagannath Oraon confirmed the incident, saying he came to know about the twin deaths from the victims’ father. However, no post-mortem was carried out as the family did not want it. “The victims’ father gave me in writing that he did not want to send the bodies for autopsy,” the officer said.
The pond, where the two brothers drowned, measures 200mx200m. A resident said it turned unsafe after it was dug up in the middle to ensure sufficient water throughout the year for irrigation purposes. “The pond’s depth in the middle is about 15 feet. On this day last year, two sisters had also drowned,” he added.
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