Three children drowned in a pond at Balumati village near Murshidabad’s Islampur on Sunday afternoon when they were bathing.

Riaz Sheikh, 10, Khaled Sheikh, 12 and Wasim Reza, 11, were neighbours and had reportedly gone out to bath in the pond without informing their family members. “When they were not at home by 3pm, we went out searching and found their clothes lying by the edge of the pond,” said a distraught family member.

Riaz was a student at Mullapur Primary School whereas Reza and Khaled studied at the Balumati High School. The children’s bodies were brought out of water by local people who used a fishing net for the purpose.

The children were rushed to Islampur Rural Hospital where the trio were declared brought-dead.

Mohammed Amanullah, a neighbour, said he was accustomed to seeing those boys playing by the pond, but had prior apprehensions that their guardians did not know.

“The moment I heard they were missing, I had my fears that this had happened,” he said. “By the time we found them, it was too late,” he added.

Islampur police sources said no formal complaint had been lodged in this connection as of Sunday evening but an inquiry would be started.