Our Correspondent
TINSUKIA, June 18: Two persons drowned in Dibru river at Guijan about 9 km from Tinsukia on Sunday evening and were washed away by the surging current. According to reports, Rajat Singh (26) along with three boys, Nripen Sharma, Pradip Singh and Niranjan Deka, and three girls had hired a machine boat owned by Rathin Paul for a ride in the periphery of Dibru- Saikhowa National Park. In mid-river, Rajat got engaged in a quarrel with the girls and he allegedly jumped off the boat into the river. The boatman Rathin Paul also jumped to rescue Rajat but both drowned and were swept away. The other group members drove the boat to Guijan ghat after dusk and after disembarking silently, fled to Tinsukia. Later, noticing a moving boat floating on the river the locals raised a hue and cry and identified the boat as belonging to Rathin. The rescue team from NDRF is yet to retrieve the bodies till filling of this report.