The Hindu : Two children drown, brother missing

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 28, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Two children drown, brother missing

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, MARCH 27 . Two of the four minor children of a rickshaw puller who had gone missing from outside their house at Khajuri Khas in North-East Delhi on Friday evening were found dead in the Yamuna river on Saturday. While one of them was rescued from the river last night, there was no trace of the fourth child. The police have so far ruled out any foul play.

According to the police, the tragedy came to light when Javed, a rickshaw puller living in C-Block, Sriram Colony, Khajuri Khas, returned home around 7 p.m. on Friday. When he asked his wife, Nazreen, about the children, she told him they had gone out to play. However, Javed could not find them in the locality. He then went to Khajuri Khas police station around 9 p.m. to lodge a missing complaint.

Around the same time, the Police Control Room received a call saying that a girl child had been rescued from the Yamuna and taken to hospital. Javed went to the hospital and found that it was his daughter, Zahida (6). He then told the police that three of his other children - Sajid (10), Rani (8) and Gullo (2) - were also missing. The police then registered a case of kidnapping and took up investigations.

The police said Zahida was rescued when Nand Lal, a resident of A-Block, who had gone to relieve himself, felt some movement in the water. He panicked and called another person, Bhagwan Giri, who came with a torch. They pulled the girl out and informed the police, who took her to GTB Hospital. Throughout the night, the police and local fishermen tried to trace the other three children, but to no avail.

Today morning around 9 p.m., two bodies were recovered from the Yamuna barely a few metres away from where Zahida was rescued. They were identified as Rani and Gullo. However, there was no trace of Sajid till late on Saturday evening.

"It is difficult to ascertain the circumstances under which the children reached the Yamuna, which is about 2 km from their house. We are hoping to get a correct picture when Zahida is fit for making a statement. Local inquiries have so far not indicated any foul play," said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East), Praveer Ranjan.

It is suspected that the children were aware of the route to the river as Nazreen, a washerwoman, used to go there for washing clothes. The police, however, said the exact sequence of events was yet to be established.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the two children have been sent for post-mortem. Efforts are on to trace Sajid. The Khauri Khas police are looking into the matter.

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