Three friends drowned in a village well - one after falling into it and the others while trying to save him - at Gandhi Nagar in Bermo, around 38km from Bokaro steel city, on Thursday morning.
The deceased have been identified as Abdul Ahmad (22), Jacky Nishad (23) and Rocky Sahni (24), all residents of Jaridih Bazar.
Sources said Jacky and Rocky used to clean the local Godawari temple every morning, which was one of the many odd jobs they would do to earn a living. On Thursday morning, the duo as usual were busy sweeping and moping the temple premises around 9am while Abdul was waiting for them near the well, barely 50 feet away.
The sources claimed that Abdul, while walking near the well, suddenly lost his footing and fell into the water body.
Hearing his cry for help, Jacky rushed to Abdul's rescue and jumped into the well. Even after a few minutes when none of them came out, Rocky also dived inside the well to save his friends.
Meanwhile, some local residents, who were near the temple, raised an alarm. Gandhi Nagar police were informed and a Kathara-based rescue team was also summoned. Soon, dozens of people assembled near the spot. Some of them went into the well with the help of ropes and fished out the three bodies. The youths were rushed to Phusro hospital, where they were declared brought dead.
Local villagers claimed though they were not sure about Abdul, Jacky and Rocky belonged to the Mallah community (traditional fishermen), considered good swimmers. "It's tragic. They went in one after another, but none could come out," said Parmeshwar Mahto, an eye witness.
Later, hundreds of villagers blocked the Bermo-Gandhi Nagar Road, demanding Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the deceaseds' kin. The protest, which began around 10am, continued for six hours, paralysing the traffic movement.
Finally, the irate villagers withdrew the blockade after Bermo SDO Kundan Kumar rushed to the spot and promised help. He also gave Rs 10,000 in cash to the family of each victim as immediate relief.
Bermo DSP R.K. Mehta said all the three bodies had been forwarded to Tenughat hospital for post-mortem and investigation into the tragedy had begun.
