Daltonganj: The wait for a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team has prolonged the search for Raju (35) who drowned in Bataney river near Cheri Dhaam under Harihurganj police station limits.Officer-in-charge Deobrat Poddar said on Sunday that a requisition for the SDRF team was sent late Saturday evening, but the team had not reached the site till the filing of this report. As a result, Raju’s body remains untraced and unretrieved.Villagers made a frantic search for him but in vain, the police officer said.Police said three men from Bihar had come to Cheri Dhaam near Bataney river, an inter-state river of Jharkhand and Bihar, late Saturday afternoon. They had consumed alcohol and then entered the river in an inebriated condition.Quoting villagers, police said the three misread the river and ventured into deeper water, where they began to sink.Locals rescued Rajinder (36) who is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Bihar’s Aurangabad district. The body of Ritik (25) was recovered by villagers on Sunday morning. Ritik’s father submitted a written petition, following which Harihurganj police lodged a UD case.
