Tragedy hit lakhimpur Kheri when five children who were returning after seeing Ram leela late on Wednesday night were drowned after they fell into a pond. A case has been registered in this regard and bodies were sent for post-mortem examination.
Reports said that some children hailing from Puraina hamlet of Chandan Chowki area went to see Ram leela on Wednesday night. Around 2am on Thursday, when they were returning home, the bull pulling their cart felt thirsty so he went to a pond. Reports said that as the children not de-boarded from the cart so the bull lost control and slipped inside and the cart also submerged in the water in which five children were killed.
The bodies were later fished out of the pond with the help of locals. The five kids were identified as Sanjay (15), Karina (14), Nirjala (6), Nirmala (8) and Phoola (12). All of them belonged to tribal Tharu families of Surma forest village on the Indo-Nepal border. Meanwhile in Ballia, two children were charred to death after being trapped in fire that broke out inside their house at Araipur village in Gadwar area. According to reports, Ankur (3)and his cousin brother Babu (2) were killed after they got trapped in the fire that broke out on Wednesday evening. A case has been registered and local police is trying the ascertain the cause of the fire.
Meanwhile a gram pradhan was also shot dead in Sitapur due to political rivalry. Navi Rasool, a native of lal Kutri under Kotwali police station in Sitapur, stated in his report filed with the local police that his brother Jaggu, who was pradhan of Akoiya hamlet, went to drop his kin to Agarwal Public School on Thursday morning. He claimed that his brother dropped the children at school and left back for home, Muneesh, Chotu, Saukeen, Sultan and their cohorts, with whom his brother had political rivalry, opened indiscriminate five and killed his brother. The accused later escaped from the spot. A case has been registered and all out efforts were made to nab the accused.