Two teenagers drowned in the Ganga in Jharkhand’s Sahibganj district while taking a bath after making preparations for a Chhath Puja ritual at the Bascola Ghat, police said on Saturday.
The incident took place on Friday evening when Sanjay Choudhary (17) and Om Mahaldar (14) went to make preparations for the ‘arghya’ (a ritual associated with Chhath festival) at the ghat under River Police Station limits in Taljhari block.
“Three teenagers had come to the ghat, and after making the preparations for the ritual, decided to take a bath in the river. While locals managed to rescue one of them, the two others drowned,” River Police Station Officer-in-Charge, Luv Kumar, told PTI.
Police resumed the search and rescue operation on Saturday morning with the help of local divers, as it had to be called off on Friday due to darkness, he said.
“We had requested a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) unit from Deoghar for the rescue work on Friday night, but on Saturday morning around 10.30 am, the local divers managed to recover both the bodies,” Kumar said.
The bodies were sent for post-mortem at Sahibganj Sadar Hospital.
The four-day Chhath festival will commence on Saturday.
