Road blocked in city as boy drowns in Ganga

Patna: Angry locals blocked Gandhi Maidan-Digha main road for a few hours on Sunday to protest alleged late arrival of SDRF team that led to the death of a 20-year-old boy. According to the locals, the boy, Rahul Kumar, drowned in the Ganga at LCT Ghat under Patliputra police station as the SDRF team took four hours to reach the spot.
SHO of Patliputra police station Sanjeev Shekhar Jha said the incident took place around 10.30am, but the police were informed at 12.45pm after locals failed to fish out the body on their own.
“We informed the district control room at 1pm, but the SDRF team stationed in Bihta reached the spot around 5.30pm,” Jha said, adding that the body could not be fished out from the river till late evening.
He said Rahul, a resident of Bodha village in Vaishali district, had come to his grandparents’ house at Gosain Tola a couple of days back. “On Sunday, he went to the river with four other friends. As Rahul did not know swimming, he drowned in the rising river,” the SHO added.
SDRF deputy commandant A K Jha said he was informed about the incident at around 3.30pm by Patna Sadar SDO. “The team left Bihta within half-an-hour after receiving information,” Jha said, adding that SDRF teams are performing according to the standard operational procedure.