Tura, April 20: Two days after he went missing while swimming in the Simsang River near Rongkem under Samanda C&RD in East Garo Hills (EGH), police were finally able to recover the body of Niksrap Sangma from the river.
The victim had gone missing early Monday morning, when he went to the Simsang river bed along with friends for the Easter Monday picnic. He went missing at about 10:30 am on the same day.
Despite all efforts at rescue, the boy, who hails from Gondengre under Jengjal PS in WGH, could not be found. However, efforts by the EGH district emergency team led to the recovery of his body early this morning at about 8:30 AM.
The 16-year-old was among at least three known deaths that took place on the same day, all of whom were out to celebrate Easter on Monday last. This is in addition to many accidents that took place the same day with drunken revelers mainly being the cause.
Alarmed at the unnecessary loss of lives, the West Garo Hills administration has called for a meeting to discuss ways to curb such incidents from repeating in the coming years. The meeting will also include prominent Church members and senior residents of WGH.
“We were urged by the Mothers’ Union to call for a meeting on the matter and all senior leaders and people from the administration will be a part of it. We are hoping the Church will actively help in spreading the message,” said Ram Singh, deputy commissioner of West Garo Hills (WGH).
