Abhishek Bhowmick

Siliguri, April 10: A student awaiting his Higher Secondary results drowned in the Teesta canal on the outskirts of the town today after he went there with two of his friends, apparently for a swim.

Abhishek Bhowmick, 18, of Pradhannagar was a student of Sister Margaret (Nivedita) High School in the same locality. His classmates, Joy Talukdar and Pankaj Dey, who accompanied him to the canal, both live in Kathaltala outside Siliguri.

A police source said the three of them had travelled to Simulguri in Gajoldoba in the afternoon for a swim in the canal.

“While Pankaj stayed back on the bank, Joy and Abhishek entered the water,” the source added. “Soon both were washed away by the strong current. Malin Roy, a resident of the area, saw what was happening and jumped into the water. He was able to rescue Joy, but by the time he reached out to Abhishek, he had already died.”

Abhishek’s father Dhruba is an assistant engineer with All India Radio. He said Abhishek had left home in the morning, saying he was going to a friend’s place.

“Abhishek was preparing for the joint entrance examination scheduled for April 20,” said Dhruba. “He often went over to the house of his friend, Anindya, who lives nearby. This morning, too, he said he was going to Anindya’s place.”

His family members later discovered that Abhishek had sneaked out with a towel.

“In the afternoon, I got a phone call from an unknown person saying that my son had drowned in Gajoldoba,” said the father at North Bengal Clinic in Pradhannagar. “I rushed to the spot and saw that the residents of the area had taken out his body from the canal. Although I knew at once that my son was no more, I rushed him to this nursing home, hoping against hope that the doctors would be able to do something. But he was pronounced dead on arrival.”

Although the police said the death was an accident, the bereaved father refused to rule out foul play.

“My son did not know swimming, what made him go into the canal?” Dhruba asked. “He had always been an obedient and honest child; why did he have to lie to us (before leaving the house)? When I went to the spot where he had drowned, the people there told me to find out the ‘whole story’ from the two other boys. What were they talking about?”

Neighbours in Pradhannagar described Abhishek as a gentle, well-mannered boy.

“He was good at studies and wanted to become an engineer,” the father recalled.