The bodies of three children were found floating in a village pond in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur on Wednesday evening with their families claiming that they had been murdered, police said.
Police said they were waiting for the post-mortem examination report to ascertain the exact cause of their death but they suspect that the children might have drowned.
Ranjeet (11), Veeru (12) and Sameer (12), residents of Jahruddin village under Sarpathaan Police Station area, had gone out of their house at around 3 pm, but did not return till the evening, Additional Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kumar said.
Their family members launched a search and at around 6.30 pm, the bodies were found in the pond, police said.
Angry relatives of the children blocked the Lucknow-Ballia highway demanding that the owner of the land on which the pond is situated be arrested and booked while also seeking financial assistance from the government.
The highway was reopened at around 8.30 pm after officials assured the protesters of registering a case after the post-mortem report comes in along with monetary assistance for the families.
Circle officer of Shahganj, Ankit Kumar, said the children could have died due to drowning, while the family members are alleging murder.
The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination, and the reasons of death will be known after the report comes, Mr Kumar said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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