Siliguri: Nearly 48 hours after two class 10 students of an English-medium school in Fulbari were swept away by strong current in the Mahananda river, their bodies were found on Tuesday morning, holding on to each other.The deceased — Pragya Jyoti Das from Singatala in Malda’s English Bazar and Mohammad Safayel Hossain Nawshad from Bangladesh — lived at the school hostel. On Sunday, the duo and their friend Dibyanshu Saha from Mekhliganj obtained permission from the school and their parents to go shopping at a mall in Matigara.After shopping, the friends decided to visit the Mahananda barrage at Fulbari instead of returning directly to the hostel. With several barrage gates open due to the monsoon, the river was flowing at a high and dangerous speed. A local fisherman, Shankar Sarkar, reportedly warned the teenagers against entering the water at the stretch.The three nevertheless ventured in and were caught in the strong current. Locals managed to rescue Dibyanshu, but Pragya and Safayel were swept away.Police teams from Phansidewa and NJP stations rushed to the spot after receiving the information, and a joint team of NDRF and SDRF launched an extensive search operation. On Tuesday morning, the bodies were spotted around 200 m from the barrage. A NDRF official said the manner in which the bodies were found suggested the two may have remained together as they were swept away by the current.Police have sent the bodies to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examination. “A detailed investigation into the incident is underway to trace the exact sequence of events,” Naxalbari SDPO Soumyajit Roy said.According to sources, Safayel’s father, who is in Bangladesh, has applied for an emergency visa to travel to India following the tragedy.Officials appealed to parents to keep a close watch on their children and prevent them from venturing into rivers, particularly during the monsoon when water levels and currents can change rapidly.
