Rourkela, Sept.15: The search team has fished out two bodies of the missing boys who were drowned in an overflowing Sankh river yesterday. The search for one more body is still on. A group of five boys went for a picnic yesterday and three of them got drowned in the nearby river.

Inspector of Brahmanitarang police station, Upendra Pradhan, said: “To facilitate the entire search operation, we have asked Mandira dam authorities to immediately close the sluice gates. ”

Local residents said, five boys from Azad Nagar and Tilwarganj of Rajgangpur gathered at Bhalupatraa at around 3 pm yesterday. They came on two motorcycles.

The boys were in a joyful mood and enjoyed snacks at Kansbahal and later all of them went to the river for a bath. They were left to fend themselves as without notice, a gush of water overpowered them as five gates of Mandira dam, which is situated a few kilometres upstream, were opened. Md. Taslim, Md. Sadam Ali and Md. Tausif were swept away within a span of few seconds. Zafar and Khan managed to wriggle out from the near death experience. They later narrated the whole incident to their family members.

A team comprising of fire brigade personnel and Kansbahal police were entrusted with the search operation. They could not make much headway since it was already dark and the existing water level was high. The operation went on till midnight but to no avail.

Rescuers recovered the bodies of Sadam Ali and Taslim today.

It has been alleged that the gates of the Mandira dam were opened without any prior notice.

Dushmant Mishra, station officer-in-charge at Rourkela, who was a part of the rescue team, said: “We have heard about this from the villagers. But, so far, no one has officially lodged any complaint.”