Four teenagers drowned in the Damodar river near the Durgapur Barrage at Borjora in Bankura after playing Holi on Monday afternoon.

Six others were rescued from the river and four of them hospitalised.

Police said only one of the deceased had been identified — Aviraj Gupta, 14, of Durgapur town in West Burdwan — while the three other deceased were from nearby Borjora in Bankura district and remained unidentified so far.

Police said after celebrating Holi, Aviraj, a student of Class VIII, had gone to the Damodar Barrage at Borjora, 2km away from his residence at Karangapara in Durgapur town, with six of his friends to bathe in the river around 2pm. Three other boys from Borjora joined them.

“Initially the boys were bathing where the water was chest-deep. Suddenly three boys went towards the gates of the barrage where water was at least 30-foot deep,” said one of the eyewitnesses. “The others went after them and soon they all went under.”

People, mostly fishermen, raised an alarm and many dived into the river to save the boys. Police and rescue teams from Durgapur’s Coke Oven and Borjora police stations also rushed the spot.

“We managed to drag out all 10 boys and rushed them to Bankura Sammiloni Medical College and Hospital where doctors declared four of them dead on arrival. Four others were admitted to Durgapur subdivisional hospital,” said a police officer.

The area falls under Borjora police station limits in Bankura.

Local residents alleged lack of police patrolling along the river bank leading to such incidents. “The police should not allow people to go into the river,” said a Borjora resident.

“Our policemen were patrolling in the area. We will investigate why they overlooked the boys bathing,” said a police officer.

He however admitted ladditional workload ahead of the Assembly elections.

The police and local administration had earlier installed boards warning people about the dangers of going into the river.

Another death

Police said that on Sunday Sourdipta Sengupta, 23, from Durgapur’s City Centre locality drowned in the river while bathing. Sengupta’s body was recovered later in the evening and sent for post-mortem.