3 Children Drown, 2 Missing During Immersion After Karam Puja In Hazaribag, Dhanbad

Three children drowned and two were mission in two separate incidents in Jharkhand’s Hazaribag and Dhanbad districts on Tuesday during immersion rituals after Karam Puja, police said.

In Hazaribag district, six girls were swept away by the strong currents of the Barakar river during the immersion rituals around 8.30 am. The incident happened in Obra village in Chouparan police station area, they said.

Three girls could be rescued immediately by the fishermen, while three other girls went missing. Later, the body of one of the missing girls was fished out, and a search is on for the other two, they added.

The deceased girl was identified as Divya Kumar, the daughter of one Sikander Yadav. The body was sent to Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examination, Barhi’s Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Nazir Akhtar told PTI.

In Dhanbad, two children drowned in the reservoir of Jamunia dam while immersing the branches of karam tree, which is worshipped during the festival that celebrates good harvest.

The deceased were identified as Saloni Kumari (14), the daughter of one Vineswaer Chouhan, and Devraj Kumar (10), the son of Babloo Turi. Both were residents of Matigarha Colony, police said.

The incident happened around 6 am when seven children of Matigarha Colony went to the reservoir to immerse Karam Puja materials, and two of them drowned while bathing, an officer of the Baghmara police station said.

Both the bodies have been sent to a nearby hospital for post-mortem examination, he said.