Itanagar, Aug. 1: Two youths from Nepal, Kabiraj Tamang and Purna Limbu, both 20 years of age, who worked at HCC Pvt Ltd (a construction company) here, drowned in the Pare river near Sopo village here yesterday, police sources said.

Kabiraj's body was found on the riverbank around 10am near Emchi village, nearly 3km from the Doimukh police station by search teams with the help of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).

Sopo is almost 37km from Yupia, the headquarters of Papum Pare district, and 50km from Itanagar.

Sources said the youths had gone to bathe in the river.

The policemen stationed at Doimukh, along with the company's staff, conducted a search operation yesterday under the supervision of Papum Pare superintendent of police, Tumme Amo. However, the search had to be called off because of falling light and the river turning muddy after rain.

The body was handed over to his relatives after a post-mortem. Purna's body was still untraced and the search operation would continue tomorrow, said the superintendent of police. He added that all concerned, including the officers-in-charge of Banderdewa, Harmuty and Bihpuria police stations in Assam have been alerted to be on the lookout for the missing body.

Residents on the banks of the Dikrong river have also been alerted, he added.

Amo has appealed to the residents to refrain from taking dips in the rivers, especially at Pare and Dikrong, which are flowing above their normal levels because of incessant rain in the past few days.

Moreover, large volumes of water are being released from the Ranganadi hydroelectric plant every day into the Pare, causing a rise in its water level.