BBA student, her male friend, found dead at Bhopal’s Kerwa Dam 12 hours apart

Bhopal: In a disturbing incident, two college students were found dead within a span of 12 hours at the infamous ‘Maut Ka Kuan’ downstream section of the Kerwa Dam in Bhopal’s Ratibad area.

The police suspect that 20-year-old BBA student Komal Pathak and her ‘friend’ Sushil Namdev, also aged 20 years, likely drowned after veering into deep waters while swimming in the dam during an outing.Significantly, the police said there was a signboard warning visitors againstventuring into the water.The first body, that of Komal, was recovered on Monday evening after forest department personnel noticed an abandoned motorcycle in the parking area while clearing tourists from Kerwa Jungle Camp.

A search led to the discovery of two backpacks and shoes near the water, following which the body was spotted floating in the deep stretch, locally known as ‘Maut Ka Kuan’.Ratibad police reached the spot around 7.30 pm and, with the help of local divers, retrieved the body. Documents found in one of the backpacks helped identify the deceased as Komal Pathak, a resident of Chhola area. Her family told police that she had left home on Monday afternoon, saying she was going to college, but never returned.

Some forest department employees told police that Komal had been seen with a young man moments before she trailed off into the waters.In another backpack, the police found an entry ticket to the jungle camp. Acting on this lead, they launched an intense search operation before recovering the lifeless remains of 20-year-old Sushil Namdev, a resident of Malikhedi in Bhanpur, from Maut Ka Kuan on Tuesday morning.Sushil was studying in another college, the police said.Sub-inspector OP Raghuvanshi, the investigating officer in this case, said both bodies were sent for post-mortem and later handed over to their families.Warning board ignored: CopsSI Raghuvanshi said preliminary findings rule out suicide, adding it appeared to be a drowning accident. The entry tickets to the jungle camp recovered from their backpacks indicated that Sushil had visited the tourist spot a month ago as well, the sleuths said, adding that they suspect that the two were friends and likely visited Kerwa Dam previously together.They drove to the spot again on Monday, on a motorcycle.A warning board has been installed near the ‘Maut Ka Kuan’ section, cautioning visitors against entering the water due to its depth and dangerous currents.However, police suspect that the two entered the water and were swept away by the currents.“Preliminary investigation suggests they may have gone into the water, ignoring the warning sign. One of them could have slipped, misjudging the depth of the waters, while the other likely died trying to save the former,” the investigating officer told TOI.Ratibad police were recording statements of family members and acquaintances as part of their probe into the incident.