Dhenkanal: An 18-year-old student from a privately-run industrial training institute in Dhenkanal district died after drowning in a pond where authorities allegedly sent a group of students to take a bath owing to shortage of water at the hostel, Sunday.
The incident sparked outrage in the locality, while parents of the deceased student demanded thorough investigation as they suspected foul play.
Officers at the Dhenkanal Sadar police station said the student, Pritiprabhu Pattnaik, was enrolled at Bajiraut Institute of Engineering and Technology in Govindpur.
According to reports, students at the hostel were sent to a pond for bathing due to a water shortage in the hostel. While bathing, Pritiprabhu drowned. Locals rescued him and rushed him to the district headquarters hospital where doctors declared him dead.
Meanwhile, Pritiprabhu’s parents, Alok Pattnaik and Sasmita Pattnaik – residents of Banchua village under Anandpur police station in Keonjhar district – expressed shock and anger at the incident. They claimed they were not informed by the college authorities about their son’s death. The family pointed out that no representative from the college or hostel management was present at the hospital when they arrived.
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Attempts to contact college chairman Tara Prasad Satapathy on his mobile number were unsuccessful as his phone was switched off.
An officer at the Sadar police station, Purnachandra Rout, said no formal complaint had been lodged by the deceased’s family till 8:30 pm, Sunday.
PNN