Bhubaneswar: Two teenage boys drowned in the Kuakhai river, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, while taking bath after immersing the idol of Goddess Saraswati idol on Wednesday.
The deceased have been identified as Sikun Senapati of Ganga Nagar and Dibyajayoti Mahalik, both aged 15, of Unit-6 in the city.
According to sources, Sikun and Dibyajayoti went to Rangabazar area along with their tuition teacher and other students for the idol immersion. They then carried the idol to the river waters while others were at the bank, but fell into deep waters and were swept away by strong currents while taking a dip.
The tuition teacher immediately rang up police and Fire Service personnel for help. Later, bodies of the two students were fished out of the river and sent to Capital Hospital for postmortem.
Police have launched an investigation and are questioning the tuition teacher and other students, who were present at the accident spot.
Sources further said that they decided to carry out the immersion ceremony in the Kuakhai, owing to the lack of water in the temporary pond designated by the authorities.
