Jamshedpur: Three members of a family were swept away while crossing a rain-swollen stream in West Singhbhum’s Saranda forest on Sunday evening. The bodies of two victims have been recovered, while a search was under way for the third on Monday.The incident occurred when six residents of Bahda village, under Chotanagra police station limits, were crossing the Kuili, a hilly stream, after attending a funeral in a neighbouring village. The stream’s water level had risen sharply following three days of incessant rain.Basen Siddu, 52, his wife Pyari Siddu, 45, and their daughter-in-law Sunita, 28, were swept away by the strong currents. The other three villagers managed to escape.Villagers launched a rescue operation and found Pyari’s body trapped in bushes around 500 metres downstream late on Sunday. Police joined the operation on Monday morning and recovered Basen’s body. Sunita remained untraced till Monday evening.“Rescue teams are searching along the river course and in the surrounding bushes,” Chotanagra police station officer in-charge Gautam Kumar said.Basen’s son Roya Siddu, who is also gram pradhan of Bahda, said continuous rain and the swollen stream were hampering the search.Police said an NDRF team had been called in to intensify the operation but had not reached the area till Monday evening.
