Two teenagers drown in Hooghly river

Barrackpore, Aug 5 (UNI) Two teenaged students of Sacred Heart School here were feared drowned in the Hooghly river this afternoon.

While the local youths had made an abortive attempt to trace them, police were yet to make any arrangement for searching the missing students.

Police said Nabankur Banerjee (15) a student of class IX and Parth Saha (16) of class VIII, along with three other students of their hostel, went to the Mistri Ghat for taking bath under the care of Pushpenjit Roy alias Bhaskar this afternoon. The two students accidentally slipped out of Roy's control and were swept away in the heavy current.

Roy used to take students of school hostel at Manirampur every Sunday for teaching them swimming in the river.

Police started preliminary investigation when Parth's father Badal Saha, a resident of Jodhpur Colony under Tollygunge police station lodged a complaint with the local police station.

The principal of the school, Junita Thomson (50) and Pushpenjit were immediately detained at the police station but were yet to be prosecuted.

Mr Saha claimed that he had cautioned the hostel authorities not to take the students for swimming.

Nabankur, son of Sisir Banerjee, was yet to be informed about the mishap.

UNI