One boy drowned and four went missing on Tuesday while taking bath in the Ganga at Maner, around 20km west of the city.

The body of Manish Kumar (14) was found after several hours of the incident. "We pressed divers into service to trace the body and could find it only in the afternoon," Maner station house officer Sanjay Kumar Singh told The Telegraph. He added that the last rites of the boy was performed in the evening.

Sanjay also claimed that the four missing boys swam to safety and reached their respective homes.

He, however, didn't confirm the news claiming that that it could not be verified, as police were busy in carrying out the search operation of the Manish's body.

The incident occurred early on Tuesday morning when Manish, a resident of Brahmachari Shankar village in Maner, and his four friends had gone to take a bath in the river at Dostnagar Ghat on the first day of the Hindu month of Baisakh.

Kid drowns

A report from Bhojpur said an eight-year-old boy was reported drowned in the Ganga at Farhanpur village near Koelwar in the district on Tuesday.

The body of the victim is yet to be recovered. According to the police, they have started a search and assured that the body would be found soon.