Patna, Nov. 15 -- Outraged residents of Mirzapur village in Bihar's Patna district on Sunday questioned an alleged hours-long delay in the arrival of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams after three teenage boys went missing and are feared drowned in the Punpun River while preparing a Chhath ghat, asking, "Will we find a child here after five hours?"

Claiming that media personnel reached the riverbank before specialised rescue teams, villagers alleged that helpline numbers listed online were incorrect, no boats or swimmers were deployed despite Patna City being roughly nine kilometres away, and calls to administrative officials and local MLA Ramanand Yadav went unanswered-while police per...