No trace of PhD scholar swept away by Ib river

Rourkela: Two days after a PhD scholar from NIT-Rourkela went missing in the Ib river at Ghoghar Kanakund picnic spot in Sundargarh district, search operations by fire service personnel and ODRAF are still underway.

An underwater camera was deployed for the search.Dipesh Kumar Pradhan (27), a IInd-year PhD student in mathematics and a native of Bargarh district, reportedly slipped on a rock and was swept away while bathing in the river around 4 pm on Saturday.He had gone to the spot with four fellow PhD scholars — Subhan Yadav, Amar Pal Verma, Kausik Gupa and Supriya Sahoo — all aged between 24 and 27. While Dipesh lived off-campus with his family in Rourkela, the others stay in the NIT-R hostel.After the incident, the group alerted Talsara police and Balishankara fire station. Search operations started immediately but were halted after dusk. Based on a written report from Dipesh’s friends, police registered a missing case and escorted the four scholars back to campus.On Sunday, fire personnel and ODRAF from Jharsuguda continued the search without success. The operation resumed on Monday with over 20 personnel combing the river, covering nearly 5 km from the drowning spot. Dipesh’s uncle and Talsara police officials were present at the site.“The search operation again started today and is now underway, but the missing research scholar has not yet been traced,” said N Mohapatra, sub-divisional police officer, Sadar, Sundargarh.