Kupwara- Searches for the missing minor girl who drowned in River Pohru in Kupwara district entered the third day on Monday with rescuers finding no trace of her despite their strenuous efforts.
On July 08, three minor girls drowned in the river and two were rescued immediately by a local individual. But the search for the third is still on.
Reports said that a Joint operation of SDRF J&K, Marine Commando Force, Police, Revenue, Police and locals was underway for the third consecutive day to retrieve the missing girl.
“Multiple teams have been searching at different spots of river Pohru. Local sand dwellers who are well experienced are also providing their helping hand. Every possible attempt is being made to locate the missing girl,” the official said.
The incident occurred on a day when incessant rains lashed the Valley, causing rivers to swell. Many believe receding water level can help teams to retrieve the body.
Locals from Jagerpora said that people from adjacent areas are also taking part in the searches.
Relatives of the missing girl, a class 5 student, said she had gone to her maternal uncle’s home on the eve of Eid.
According to reports the girls were walking on the wooden bridge built over Nallah Pohru when one of them dropped her slipper in the stream. All the three tried to retrieve it and in the process they were taken away by the currents. Soon after the news spread, the locals and police rushed to the spot. Police and locals pulled out the two girls however the third one remained untraceable.
The two girls rescued were hailing from Mughalpora Nagri while the missing girl is said to be from Muqam-i-Shahwali village, reports further said.
Besides this, locals informed that this is not the first such incident in the aforesaid river. “Drowning incidents took place in the past as well. In some cases, the body wasn’t even retrieved for months.”
Meanwhile, both areas including her birthplace are completely shell-shocked. A pall of gloom has descended over both areas with a large number of people visiting the family to console them. Her family members are yet to come to terms as they continue to be in a state of shock. According to the locals the family had lost one daughter only last year.
Meanwhile, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Handwara Nazir Ahmad said that the search operation to retrieve the missing girl was underway.
“Navy forces were also part of the operation today. They were brought from Bandipora to help and assist in the search operation. So far there has been no trace of the girl,” he said.
He also said that the operation to retrieve her will continue till there is a desired outcome.
However, he also said that drowning incidents like in the Pohru river have happened in the past as well. “In some drowning incidents, the body wasn’t retrieved for months. Body of a victim was fished out in far away Uri in the past. The flow of this river is very high,” he said. With inputs from KNO
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