Itanagar: A massive multi-agency search and rescue operation was underway in Arunachal Pradesh's Tirap district to trace two school-going boys who went missing while bathing in Chatjo River, officials said on Monday.

A group of three boys, all students of a school in Deomali, had gone to the river to take a bath around Saturday noon, Deomali Assistant Commissioner Indira T Riba said.

The boys had reportedly been let out of their hostel earlier that day to get haircuts.

The river has been in spate due to torrential monsoon rain that lashed the region over the last one week.

While the body of one boy, identified as 12-year-old Paupwang Aana, was found by locals on the day of the incident, two others, Phosam Wangno (12) and Ngowang Kakho (13), remain untraced.

On Sunday, a team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police, administration, and the general public conducted a search and rescue operation without any success. Strong currents hindered the operation.

On Monday, a rescue team comprising personnel from the SDRF, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRBn), the Assam Rifles, the police, and community volunteers began combing operations along the river's downstream.

In light of the incident, the district administration has issued an advisory urging residents, particularly youths, to stay away from water bodies, in view of an IMD weather alert in Tirap district.

This report was published from a wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.