Four teenage boys drown in Kail river in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district

On Saturday, a search-and-rescue operation was launched in the Kail river, a tributary of Pindar, and the four bodies were recovered.

Tharali (Uttarakhand):Four teenage boys drowned in a tributary of the Pindar river in the Dewal area of Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, a senior police officer said on Saturday. The boys, aged 15-17, had been missing since Friday. Their family members searched for them the entire night, but could not find the four teenagers, Chamoli Superintendent of Police Pramendra Dobhal said.

On Saturday, a search-and-rescue operation was launched in the Kail river, a tributary of Pindar, and the four bodies were recovered, he said. The deceased have been identified as Priyanshu Bisht (16), Dharmendra Singh (15), Anshul Bisht (17), and Lucky Mishra (16). They are residents of Dhara Gaon, Odar Gaon, Sodig Sarkot and Iccholi respectively and had studied in different Classes from IX to XI in Government Inter College Dewal, Dobhal said.

According to the local people, OCB papers have also been found near the bodies, which indicates the possibility of drug consumption can be the cause of the drowning, however, the local public representatives demanded a forensic examination of the substances found on the spot. Subsequently, Deputy Collector Tharali Ravindra Junwatha said that the police are probing into the case and the cause of the death will be known after the post-mortem. He further said that the water body was not deep enough to drown four teenagers but the police's investigation will soon find out the cause of the death.