Bhubaneswar: At least five children drowned in separate incidents across the state while trying to float or retrieve miniature boats in water bodies on the occasion of Boita Bandana, to mark Kartik Purnima on Friday.
A three-year-old boy died when he went to float a miniature boat in a pond in Karmuan village of Salepur block in Cuttack district. Police identified the deceased as Nitish Kumar Bhoi.
Sources said he went to the pond early in the morning, but didn’t return home. Locals spotted him in the pond and took him to Salepur community health centre, where the doctor declared him brought dead.
“The body has been sent for autopsy. We are waiting for the report. A case has been registered and a probe is on,” said Prateek Singh, SP Cuttack (rural).
In Malkangiri, 12-year-old Sabitri Hantal from Champanagar village had gone to the pond early in the morning with friends to take part in Boita Bandana rituals.
Sources said Sabitri drowned while trying to collect coins from the floating boats. Her friends, reportedly alarmed at the incident, fled the spot without seeking help. “The girl’s body was recovered after an intensive search operation,” said Rigan Kindo, IIC of Malkangiri police station.
In Balasore’s Panishapada village, two minor girls drowned when they went to the village pond to collect miniature boats. Sources said the girls, aged around five years, accidentally fell into the pond while trying to fetch the miniature boats. They were rescued by the villagers and taken to Rasagovindapur community health centre, where doctors declared them dead.
In another incident in Balasore district, a three-year-old boy drowned in a pond at Saundia village. He was taken to the nearby healthcare centre where doctors declared him brought dead.