KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, July 6: Close on the heels of a 17-year-old boy lost his life while merrymaking at Baroda Ghat in river Kharkai, another teen drowned at the same spot under Bagbera thana area on Wednesday afternoon.
The boy who was drowned and washed away in the river was identified as Vikrant Soni (16), a resident of Golpahadi area in Parsudih.
Vikrant had gone to the Baroda Ghat in the Kharkai river along with five others, including his younger brother, to take bath in the river.
While the rest of the boys were plunged in the river while taking bath, Vikrant was taking a selfie by standing on a rock in the middle of the river, but incidentally his feet slipped off the rock and he fell into the river.
As the river was moderately swollen and there was a strong under-current, the boy was swept away.
According to sources, the victim’s younger brother had tried to save him having seen him drowning and was also being swept away. Fortunately, some local people who were present on the river bank dived in the water and saved the younger one.
Significantly, having seen Vikrant getting swept away in the river, his friends fled the scene. The local residents, however, informed the police, leading a police party to try to trace out the teen’s body.
Bagbera thana OC, Vijay Kumar said that they have pressed a team of local divers for tracing out the body, but till 6pm, it could not be found.
“In view of the river’s current, it can be assumed that the body must have been swept far away. Keeping the situation in view, we have already informed our senior police officers about the incident so that if the body could not be recovered by tomorrow morning, a team of NDRF from Ranchi may be pressed into service,” said Kumar.
The OC lamented that despite repeated warnings, youngsters tend to come to the Baroda Ghat for merrymaking in the name of taking bath.
Significantly, Vikrant had passed his matric exam from the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee School recently. Moreover,while he was at the Baroda Ghat along with his friends, his father had gone to the LBSM College in Karandih to arrange for his admission in the college.
