Ghaziabad: A two-and-a-half-year-old boy drowned in a water pit at Ashok Vihar colony in Loni on Saturday, police said.
The accident happened at 2.30pm when Sufiyana was playing with other children from the area, they said. His father Raheesh Ahmad, who runs a vegetable shop, had gone for some work at the time of the incident.
“At 4pm, all the children returned to their homes except Sufiyana. The family started looking for the boy. One of his family members saw him lying in the pit. The toddler was immediately pulled out but he had died by then,” an officer said.
Loni Kotwali police station SHO OP Singh said: “We are suspecting that the child fell into the pit while playing and drowned. We did not receive any official complaint. The family has also refused an autopsy.”
One of the boy's relatives said Sufiyana was Raheesh's only son and the family was planning to send him to school soon.
More than 20 minors have drowned this year between January 1 and October 31.
A 10-month-old baby drowned in a bucket in Sihani Gate on June 22. The child, Kanha, was playing inside the bathroom at that time.
Two minor boys, Gijaansh (10) and Hanan (11), drowned in a pond in Shalimar city on August 21.
On October 1 last year, a three-year-old girl had died after she fell into an open drain in Sahibabad.