Jammu: Two teenage boys, who had gone for a bath in the Chenab in Ramban district, are feared to have drowned in the river, police said on Sunday.
A rescue operation is underway but there was no trace of the boys who might have been swept away by the strong current while taking a bath near the Julla bridge in Ramban town, Station House Officer (SHO) Ramban Sandeep Charak said.
He said Parvinder Singh (16) and Nitish Kumar (15), both residents of Diargali-Rajgarh, had gone for a bath in the river and slipped into deep waters on Sunday afternoon.
Local volunteers immediately launched a rescue operation and were promptly joined by police teams but there was no trace of the boys even after several hours, the officer said.
Meanwhile, in a swift and daring action lasting nearly five hours, Army and Police rescued two youths trapped in the middle of the fast flowing Chenab river in Kishtwar district, officials said on Sunday.
Suneel and Bablu got stuck in the river while attempting to cross it in their JCB (earth-mover) at remote Shol village in Paddar area late Saturday evening, the officials said.
The officials said soldiers of 17 Rashtriya Rifles of Army joined police after getting information about the incident through civil administration.
The water level kept rising and fast flow of the river posed difficulty in the rescue operation, they said, adding the two army personnel made a daring attempt to cross the river by rappelling using rope tied for alignment of the bridge.
Both the youths who were sitting on the roof of the vehicle were finally rescued in pitch dark night, the officials said.
