Hyderabad: The body of the 11-year-old student of Hifz drowned in ‘Sandal ki Bowli’ tank recovered. Mohd. Faiz was a native of Lucknow completing his second year of hifz course at Madrasa Kanzul-ul-Uloom in Shaheennagar, under Balapur police station limit.
Police said Faiz along with four of his friends had visited ‘Sandal ki Bowli’ tank at around 9 am, some 500 metres from the seminary. They had spotted a religious book floating in the water.
“The children who accompanied Faiz told us that the boy removed his shirt and entered the tank to retrieve the book and drowned in the process,” said Balapur sub inspector S. Vishnu Vardhan Reddy.
Faiz’ friends informed a local when they saw him drowning. The local then informed Balapur Police.
Police and fire personnel reached the spot and began efforts to retrieve the body. Madarsa authorities were also informed. Several attempts were made to fish out the dead body by fire personnel as well as the swimmers but heavy rains hampered the process, reports DC.
A case under Section 174 (suspicious death) of CrPC is filed by the police and they are further investigating. The management told the police that it was their weekly holiday on Friday when they were asked why students were out in early hours of the day.
Locals said Friday’s was not the first such incident there. “A few years ago, two youngsters drowned there, but the authorities have taken no measures to prevent such tragedies,” said Mohammed Ali, a local businessman.
The pond is located in the middle of a locality, children come to play there, “Each year, at least five people drown there, many of them children and teenagers from Shaheennagar, Bandlaguda and Chandrayangutta,” says Ashrafullah Khan, a resident of Bandlaguda. “It concerns children’s safety, it should be done on a priority basis,” said Junaid Khan.