Puri: Smruti Ranjan Sahoo, a 20-year-old youth met his watery grave at the Narendra tank here Wednesday, police said. According to Kumbharpada police, the incident occurred Wednesday morning when Smruti, a Plus-III second year student of Gopabandhu Choudhury College at Ramachandrapur in Jajpur district, was taking a bath at Narendra tank along with one of his friends.
Kumbharpada inspector in-charge (IIC) Bichitrananda Sethy said Smruti and his five friends have come to the Holy City to witness the Suna Besha of the deities, Tuesday. After witnessing the bathing rituals of the deities, they visited several places of the city.
“It was around 9.00am Wednesday when Smruti, along with one of his five friends, got into the tank to have a bath while others were busy gossiping nearby. A few minutes into the bath, Smruti went deep into the pond and drowned. Others tried to rescue Smruti, but failed to do so,” the police official said, quoting the victim’s friends.
Later, locals joined the rescue mission and managed to bring the youth out of the pond. He was rushed to a nearby state-run healthcare facility where doctors declared him ‘dead on arrival’, added the IIC.
On being informed, police reached the hospital and seized the body of Smruti before sending it for post-mortem.
A case (10/22) of unnatural death has been registered in connection with the mishap. Smruti’s body has been handed over to his family members after an autopsy, said Sethy.