Two Ganjam students drown in pond

Berhampur: Two Plus II students of an English medium school here drowned in a pond at Nigam Nagar in Ankuli under Baidyanath Pur police station limits on Sunday.The deceased were identified as Biswajit Panda (16) and Abhijit Marndi (17), of Gajapati Nagar and Niranjan Nagar, Khodasingi, respectively. Panda was the son of a local BJP leader, Bishnu Prasad Panda. He had recently passed his Class X exams with over 90% marks and was the recipient of several awards in sporting events.The two had gone to take bath in the pond with three friends. While they were trying to practise swimming, the two drowned, and locals, along with firefighters, rescued another one. The rest of the two friends managed to swim to safety, police said.Panda and Marndi were declared dead at MKCG Medical College and Hospital here. The one rescued by the firefighters was also hospitalised and was discharged later in the day.After completing the post-mortem, the bodies were handed over to the victim’s respective parents, police said.Police have registered a case at Baidyanath Pur police station and further investigation was underway to find out the circumstances leading to their death.