Gorakhpur: An 18-month-old girl died after falling into a drain beneath her family’s hut in the Gorakhnath area of the city, police said on Sunday.The infant, identified as Meena, daughter of Ram Lakhan, resident of the Chemical Chauraha area, went missing while playing near her home on Saturday evening. When family members could not locate her despite extensive searches, they informed the police.Acting on the complaint, police launched a search operation and formed four teams to trace the child. Search was carried out in nearby localities, along roads and at other places where the girl could have gone. CCTV footage from the area was also examined, but there was no clue.As the search continued, police checked nearby drains and sought assistance from the municipal corporation. During the operation, the child’s body was found in a drain running beneath the family’s hut late Saturday night.Family members alleged that a gap between drain slabs may have caused the accident. According to them, the drain was cleaned two days earlier and the slabs covering it were not placed properly afterwards, leaving an opening through which the child may have fallen into the water.CO Gorakhnath Ravi Singh said police immediately initiated a search operation after receiving information about the child’s disappearance.“Four teams were deployed to trace the child. Later, her body was recovered from a drain beneath the hut. Postmortem report is awaited,” he said.
