Four drown in pond in MP

In a tragic incident, four youths drowned while taking bath at a pond in Katni town of Madhya Pradesh.
According to the police sources, the youths-all aged between 11 and 14-were residents of Chapara Har village under Sleemnabad police station. They were identified as Shashi Pratap Singh, Mayank Yadav, Sourya Singh, and Dharmveer Vanshkar.

The family members said that the four youths, who were good friends, had left their homes on Sunday afternoon on the pretext of playing cricket as it was a holiday.

A search was launched for the youths by the family members after they did not return home after several hours, the police said.

Their cycles and clothes were found on the bank of the pond situated a few hundred metres away from the village, police sources said adding that the family members suspected that the youths might have drowned in the pond.

The bodies of the four youths were later fished out from the pond by the local residents, the police said.

Police said that it appears that the youths had slipped while taking bath in the pond and drowned as they did not know how to swim.

A pall of gloom descended on the village after the news of death of four young children reached their village as wailing parents and relatives mourned their losses.

The bodies of the youths had been sent for post-mortem examination after which they would be handed over to their family, the police said.

Senior officials who also visited the spot, assured that monetary assistance, in accordance with the rules, would be provided to the families of the deceased youths.