Miffed with his wife after a verbal spat, a deputy commandant with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jumped into the Gomti river in Lucknow along with his two sons on Saturday, police said.

While the elder son swam to safety, the CRPF official B.D. Maurya and his younger son are still missing and are feared dead.

Police officials said that Maurya leapt into the river with his two sons at the Ghaila bridge in the Mandiaon area. He was apparently enraged after he had an altercation with his wife and took the extreme step. He came to the bridge in a car from Eldico city locality.

The elder son Tejas, seven, is safe and under the care of the family while there is no trace of Vansh, three, who police fear may have drowned.

Inspector Mandiaon, Amarnath Verma, and Circle Officer (CO) Aliganj, Meenakshi Gupta, rushed to the river bank and are overseeing the rescue operations as police and private divers are trying to fish out the bodies of the father and son.

The inspector informed IANS that Maurya was posted at the CRPF office in the state capital and has a house in Eldico City on the IIM road.