Keonjhar, May 23: A 21-year-old engineering student drowned while taking a bath in the Kalinjar river near Gopalpur under Keonjhar Sadar police limits on Friday. The deceased has been identified as Aditya Mahanta alias Kahna, a student of the Mining Department at Government Degree Engineering College.

According to reports, Kahna had gone out with his friends for recreation when they decided to bathe in the river. Shortly after entering the water, he reportedly slipped into a deep portion of the river and drowned as he did not know swimming. His friends also failed to rescue him due to lack of swimming skills.

The incident was immediately reported to family members and local authorities. On receiving information, Fire Services personnel reached the spot and launched a search operation before recovering the body from the river.

Keonjhar Sadar Police arrived at the scene and initiated an investigation. Sadar Tehsildar Shubhendu Sahu also visited the spot. Later, the body was sent to the Keonjhar District Headquarters Hospital for post-mortem examination after the arrival of the deceased’s father, Jagabandhu Mahanta.

A resident of Magur Gadia, Kahna was the only son of his parents. The untimely death has left the family and relatives devastated. Police have registered an unnatural death case and further investigation is underway.