Patna, July 18 :     The magnitude of the tragedy caused by rioting during an Army recruitment drive in Darbhanga yesterday has surpassed expectations, with bodies of 18 of the job-seekers who went missing after the incident found floating in flood water today. Rioting had also taken place during Army recruitment rallies in Chapra and Aurangabad. The toll stood at three yesterday, including one casualty in the Chapra incident and two in Darbhanga. The job-seekers whose bodies were found floating apparently drowned while trying to escape police firing and the resultant stampede. The strip of land where the candidates were being screened is surrounded by flood water. Director-general of police K.A. Jacob said the possibility of the toll going up could not be ruled out. ?We are using large nets to fish out more bodies, if there are any, from the flood water,? he said. Local residents said hundreds of job-seekers who came to the recruitment rally were still missing. Personnel engaged in rescue operations fear that some of the job-seekers may have been washed away by flood water into the river stream. Darbhanga is one of the districts worst-affected by the current wave of floods. The scale of the tragedy has caused a furore in political circles, with several parties, including the CPI(ML), calling a bandh in Mithilanchal tomorrow. Chief minister Rabri Devi today constituted a one-member committee to go into the circumstances leading to the police firing and stampedes in Darbhanga and Chapra. She has directed the committee to submit its report at the earliest. The chief minister told an emergency meeting at her residence here this evening that she would not hesitate to take stern action against the officers found guilty. She earlier sent the home secretary to Darbhanga to take stock of the situation. The chief minister expressed profound grief over the loss of lives in the stampede, but said there was a silver lining to the tragedy. ?It is a healthy sign that so many youth turned up to join the Army. This shows how patriotic the youth here are,? she said. It is learnt that the government has opened a control room to provide information to the relatives of the job-seekers who are yet to return home. Anxious parents and relatives thronged Darbhanga today in search of their missing wards. At the emergency ward of the Patna Medical College, 17-year-old Naresh Kumar Pandey tossed about in pain, waiting to get a bullet removed from his groin. ?I would have loved to face this bullet in the battlefield,? he told The Telegraph. Recalling yesterday?s incident, Pandey said there were about 30,000 candidates waiting in Darbhanga to get their forms filled up so that they could be eligible for screening. However, the Army officers at the venue announced that only candidates from Darbhanga would be given a chance. Enraged job-seekers from other districts subsequently began to hurl chappals and stones. ?I heard three sounds of firing. Before I realised where it was taking place, a bullet hit my groin and I fainted,? Pandey said. Sashibhusan Rai, another injured job-seeker, lay next to Naresh?s bed. Doctors said a bullet had torn the innards of the teenager?s stomach. Screaming in pain, Rai said the chaos yesterday had left him disillusioned about a career in the Army. ?I never thought anything involving the Army could be so chaotic,? he said. It is suspected that some antisocials infiltrated the ranks of job seekers and tried to cause trouble. Someone snatched a police officer?s revolver and fired at him, leading to the police firing.