Gorakhpur: A 16-year-old school topper drowned in the Rapti river in Gorakhpur’s Jhangha area while bathing with five friends. His mother has alleged that he was deliberately drowned out of jealousy over his academic success.The deceased was a Class XI student at Aditya Public School and had topped his school in the Class X CBSE exams with 91%.According to police, the victim had gone to the river with five friends on Thursday afternoon. His family received a phone call around 3 pm informing them that he had drowned. When relatives reached the riverbank, they found his clothes and slippers lying there, while his friends were missing.Police and SDRF teams launched a search operation late on Thursday, but poor visibility forced it to be suspended. The operation resumed on Friday morning, and after nearly six hours of searching, SDRF personnel found the body around 1 pm.His mother alleged foul play, saying, “My son was a topper and his friends were jealous of him. They drowned him.”Police questioned all five boys. Sources said their statements appeared inconsistent, particularly regarding claims that the deceased entered deep water fully clothed, while his clothes were later found in the nearby bushes.Jhangha SHO Anoop Singh said the postmortem examination and further legal action are underway.
