Malkangiri: Two college students went missing after drowning in the Gummajharan waterfall in Malkangiri district.
The missing youths have been identified as Lingaraj Mohapatra and S. Shreekhar, Plus III 2nd year students of Vikram Dev University, Jeypore.
The incident occurred when a group of four students from Vikram Dev University visited the waterfall for a picnic on Tuesday. While taking a selfie, three students lost their footing and fell into the waterfall. They were washed away by the strong currents. Local residents managed to rescue one student, but Lingaraj and Shreekhar are still missing.
Subsequently, police and fire department officials have launched a search operation, with a 16-member team from ODRAF (Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force) and local people working together to locate the missing students. However, the search was delayed due to darkness and resumed the next morning.
Mathili police station officer Dipanjali Majhi stated that the search operation is still ongoing to trace the missing youths.
Notably, two brothers from Jeypore city lost their lives in the same waterfall in 2024.
