DASHAM OR DEATH TRAP?

Dec. 11: On Friday, Bharat Anand lost his second friend in front of his eyes.

The BIT dropout, who is now a Giridih-based contractor and whose car was used by friends, Abhishek Mishra and Ragini Yadav, to drive to Dasham Falls last week, had lost another friend in 2002 in a road accident. On Friday, Abhishek allegedly drowned. On both occasions, Bharat survived to tell the tale.

Bharat said he and his friends wished to be present at Abhishek’s house in Gurgaon on the 12th day after his untimely death.

Yesterday, Abhishek’s father, Subhash Mishra, had questioned the role of the friends and wondered why they had “disappeared”.

Bharat today claimed Mishra had called him up after returning to New Delhi and he did not suspect foul play. All that Mishra wanted to know, Bharat said, was whether Ragini and Abhishek had any tiff on that day or whether anyone else had accompanied them to the waterfall. “We did not hide anything from the police and we are not about to hide anything from the Mishras,” said Bharat, the nephew of former Jharkhand minister Ravindra Rai.

Anand claimed that they were in a state of shock and had, therefore, returned home after recording their statements with the police. “We understand the sense of loss being felt by Abhishek’s family members,” said Bharat, “but please remember that we also lost a friend.”

Chief minister Madhu Koda today turned down the BJP’s demand for a CBI probe, with state Congress chief Pradeep Balmuchu asking why similar investigations had not been ordered into deaths at Dasham during the NDA regime.

Principal secretary to the governor Amit Khare confirmed that Raj Bhavan had twice written to the government, urging it to put railings and iron chains to demarcate the deep-end and the dangerous zone and to enable visitors to cling to them in case they slipped. But the government apparently maintained that local villagers were opposed to any development work.

But Ranchi deputy commissioner K.K. Soan said he had spoken to the villagers and they had readily agreed to his proposal to put up the railings and sign boards besides constructing toilets.

The deep pool, where most deaths have occurred, is actually a spot revered by the local villagers, claimed Soan.