A young man and woman who were last heard having what sounded like a tiff on the banks of a canal at Nonadanga in Anandapur on Monday night disappeared minutes later, leaving the scooter they had come on by the roadside.

On Tuesday afternoon, their bodies were fished out of the canal. The man still had the keys to the scooter in his hand.

Police identified him as Rohit Agarwal, 19, of 87B, Uttar Panchanna Gram. Agarwal worked as a delivery boy.

The woman, Ronita Baidya, 23, was a resident of 4D, Martin Para, VIP Nagar, in Anandapur, the police said.

“This happened around 9-9.15pm, when people in the neighbourhood heard a woman speaking loudly. According to one witness, he saw a man with the woman near the canal. It was dark, and visibility was limited. Seconds later, they were gone. How they fell is not clear,” said a senior officer of Anandapur police station.

Alerted by locals, the police reached the spot on Monday night. The scooter was located, but the two were missing.

A search by the disaster management team was launched at night. But when the team could not find them, they resumed the search on Tuesday morning.

Around 12.10pm, the body of a man was found in the Nonadanga Canal in front of Hussain Enterprise at Chowbaga. His clothes matched those worn by Agarwal the previous night. Later, his family confirmed his identity, the police said.

Around three hours later, the team recovered Baidya’s body.

While the police were speaking to local residents, an elderly man told them he had seen the two riding a scooter and arguing.

“The woman got down and ran towards the canal. The man parked the scooter and ran after her. After a while, he heard a sound like someone jumping into the canal,” said an officer attached to the case.

The police corroborated the eyewitness account through CCTV footage, which showed Agarwal and Baidya running towards the canal.

What transpired between the two is yet to be ascertained.

“Baidya’s phone was found on the canal bank. Till now, no foul play has been found. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem,” said deputy commissioner (east division) Arish Bilal.