A tragic incident occurred on Sunday in Chhoti Bharatsila village, Shambhuganj block, Banka district, where a 12-year-old student, Anand Kumar, drowned in the Lohagarh River. Anand, son of Anguri Pandit, was a fifth-grade student at the local village school.

Due to a school holiday, Anand had gone to the Lohagarh River with his friends for a bath. While bathing, he inadvertently entered a deep trench in the river and drowned. Initially, his friends were unaware of what had happened. It was only after some time that one child noticed Anand's hand underwater and raised an alarm. Villagers quickly gathered at the riverbank and began searching for him.

After approximately four hours of effort, villagers managed to pull Anand out of the deep part of the river, but by then, he had already passed away. His family immediately rushed him to Fuldummar Hospital, where doctors declared him dead after examination. Upon hearing the news of her son's death, his mother, Kaushalya Devi, was inconsolable. Anand was the elder of his parents' two children.

Upon receiving information about the incident, the police arrived at the scene, took custody of the body, and sent it for post-mortem examination to Banka Sadar Hospital. The police gathered information regarding the incident and questioned local residents. Panchayat head Vinay Prasad, along with other public representatives and villagers, expressed their condolences over the tragic event. Villagers have urged the administration to provide financial assistance to the deceased's family as per the disaster management department's norms. Furthermore, villagers have emphasized the need to identify dangerous sections of the river and implement safety measures to prevent similar accidents in the future.