Bhubaneswar: A student of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela, was swept away by a strong current while bathing in the IB River at Kanhakund in Sundargarh district on Saturday, triggering a massive search and rescue operation that continued for over 19 hours.
The missing student has been identified as Deepesh Pradhan, a native of the Dunguri area in Bargarh district. He had gone to the popular natural canyon along with four friends for an outing.
According to reports, the group entered the stone-bed stretch of the river to bathe when Deepesh reportedly lost his grip on a rock and was pulled into deeper waters by the swift current. His friends immediately raised an alarm and alerted the local authorities.
Following the incident, a joint search operation was launched involving police personnel from the Sundargarh sub-division, fire service teams from Subdega and Balisankara, and forest department staff from Rauldega.
Rescue teams conducted an extensive search in the river and nearby areas, but no trace of the student had been found till the filing of this report.
