Medininagar, Jul 21 (PTI) Police on Friday initiated a probe to ascertain if there was any foul play involving the four girls whose bodies were found in a pond close to their school in Jharkhand's Palamu district.

The bodies of all four students in the age group of six to eight were recovered from the pond on Thursday evening and their postmortem was carried out in Medininagar Medical College and Hospital on Friday, said additional superintendent of police (ASP) Rishav Garg.

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In the postmortem report, it was stated that all four students died due to drowning. “We have also sought a report about the possibility of sexual assault from the hospital. We are investigating the case from every angle. Prima facie, we did not find any clue of foul play so far,” Garg said.

He said of the four girls, three belonged to a single family. “We could not yet ascertain how the students went to the waterbody,” he said.

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The four girl students went to a government school in Sarja village, around 200 km from the state capital Ranchi, on Thursday morning. But, they did not return home till post noon.

When family members and villagers went to search for them, they found the bodies in the pond, Garg said. The water level has increased in the pond due to the rainy season, he said.

Meanwhile, Palamu administration is contemplating compensation to the families of the victims.

Palamu deputy commissioner (DC) A Dodde said they are analyzing disaster management norms for compensation to the family of the victims.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)