Bhubaneswar, Aug. 14: Two brothers drowned in a pond at Kakarudrapur village on the outskirts of the city this morning.

The deceased have been identified as Soumya Ranjan Parida, 12, and his younger brother Smruti Ranjan Parida, 11 - sons of Laxmidhar Parida. Soumya was a student of Class VII, while his younger brother was in Class VI.

Police said the deceased had gone to the pond for a bath.

Eyewitnesses said Smurti first slipped into the deep waters and started drowning. "Soumya tried to rescue him but eventually drowned in the pond. Later, we informed the fire bridgade, which brought out the bodies from the pond," said an eyewitness.

ATM hacker

Police will bring Syed Qureshi, the mastermind behind ATM hacking cases, in transit remand for further investigation into ATM theft cases without breaking the machine s. Madhya Pradesh cyber cell sleuths recently nabbed Qureshi, who is now in judicial custody.

On March 26, the cops arrested one of the four-member gang involved in stealing Rs 50 lakh from ATM counters in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri without breaking the machines.

The accused, Ajay Choudhury from Uttarakhand, and the gang have been hacking ATMs through malware, a software designed to gain access to its computer system.

The police said Qureshi supplied the malware to the gang members involved in ATM theft cases in Odisha. "We will seek the court's permission to bring him in transit remand. Once we get the permission, our team will visit Madhya Pradesh to bring the accused for further investigation," said police commissioner Y.B. Khurania.