The bodies of the minor sisters were found pinned inside the drum yesterday by their grandmother in Amleta village here, they said.
At the time of incident on May 26, the drum was one-fourth filled while the rest was empty, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Rajesh Vyas said today adding possibly they were unable to open its lid which must have got closed in a tight manner resulting in the deaths.
Their parents working as labourers left home in the morning for work leaving the three girls with their grandmother who lives nearby, the ASP said.
The girls were playing till afternoon, but after that nobody took note of their presence on the ground and assumed that they must be somewhere in the house or nearby.
However in the evening when their parents returned home, they started looking for them till late in the night, after which they informed the police.
When the grandmother opened the drum yesterday morning, she found bodies of the three girls inside it to her horror following which police was called.
More From This Section
The deceased girls, who might have died of asphyxiation were identified as Jyoti 12, Laxmi 08 and Ranu 04, police said.
After preliminary investigations and autopsy, their last rites were performed yesterday. Police have not ruled out any foul play and is further probing the case.