2 students drown in pond

CUTTACK: Tragedy struck Sudhananda Residential School near Kurangasasana under Cuttack Sadar police limits on Sunday when two boys drowned in the pond on the campus.  The boys, inmates of the hostel, were immersing Ganesh idol in the pond when they reportedly slipped into the water. They have been identified as Abhisek Das of Ularbhinda village and Dibyaranjan Swain of Angeswarpur in Jagatsinghpur district. Both were in Class X. According to reports, a group of students of the residential school had been to the pond to immerse the idol in the morning. While doing so, either Das or Swain slipped and went into the water. The other then tried to rescue the friend and got drowned in the process. With heavy rains in the last couple of the days, the pond was brimming with water. The boys apparently did not know how to swim. Their friends, who were witness to the incident, also did not dare to rescue them and raised an alarm. But by the time help reached both Das and Swain drowned. They were rushed to the SCB Medical, Cuttack, where they were declared brought-dead.