3 boys drown in Rapti; Yogi expresses grief

Gorakhpur: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday expressed sorrow over death of three teenaged boys who drowned in the Rapti river while bathing near Rajghat area of Gorakhpur on Tuesday evening. He directed officials to provide all admissible govt assistance to the bereaved families at the earliest and personally coordinate with them.Describing the incident as “heartbreaking and tragic”, the chief minister prayed for peace to the departed souls and strength to the grieving families. The victims, identified as Irfan, 16, Hans aka Nikku,13 and Shakti Gautam,13 lived in the same lane of Hansupur locality and were close friends.According to residents, the boys had been playing cricket in the neighbourhood before heading towards the river with another friend. The fourth boy in the group informed locals about the drowning before leaving the area. Police are trying to trace him to ascertain the sequence of events.On receiving information, teams from Rajghat police station and NDRF launched a search operation in the river. Grief engulfed the area after all three bodies were recovered after hours of search.