(From top) The pond where Mamata Naskar and Dola Sarkar drowned. Pictures by Sayantan Ghosh

Two girls drowned during swimming lessons in the Survey Park area near Kishore Bharati Stadium in Santoshpur on Thursday morning. The trainer, the girls’ karate teacher, allegedly swam to safety without trying to rescue them. He has been arrested for negligence.

The parents of Mamata Naskar, 14, a Class VI student at Santoshpur Vidyamandir for Girls High School, and her friend Dola Sarkar, 12, a Class V student at the same school, have said they had no idea Prabir Mondal, the girls’ karate teacher, was also giving them swimming lessons.

“He (Mondal) picked up Dola and Mamata around 6.30am on his motorcycle. He told me not to worry and promised to drop the girls home. I had no idea that he was teaching them swimming,” said Dola’s mother Sampa Sarkar, who works as a domestic help.

Sampa said the girls had been taking karate lessons from Mondal in the evening since two weeks. Four days ago, they started going out in the morning as well.

“He had promised to teach Mamata karate. But he never mentioned swimming,” said Karuna Mondal, Mamata’s mother.

Neighbours said that instead of training the girls in karate at the stadium, Mondal did a round of the stadium with the girls sitting pillion in his bike and headed straight for Nilpukur, a pond a few metres off the stadium, around 7am on Thursday.

“All three were in the water when one of them started drowning and clutched on to the other. According to Mondal, both the girls had grasped him and were taking him down as well,” said an officer of Survey Park police station. “Mondal said that he somehow managed to get out of their grasp and came out of the water,” the officer said.

As news of the drowning spread in the area, Dola’s father rushed to the spot. He brought her out of the water and Mamata was fished out with a net a little later. Both girls were declared dead when taken to Baghajatin hospital.

Mondal was detained for interrogation and later arrested for alleged negligence.

“We have started a case based on the complaint lodged by the children’s parents. The trainer had apparently not paid enough attention and did not take the care needed while teaching children to swim. He has been booked under Section 304A of the IPC,” said deputy commissioner (south suburban division) Sujoy Chanda.

Suicide: A 36-year-old woman died after jumping off the roof of a five-storeyed building on Mayfair Road on Thursday afternoon. Police said the deceased, Smriti Bhagrav, was undergoing psychiatric treatment for the past few years. A suicide note found in her room said no one was responsible for her death.

Liquor arrests: Two persons were arrested from Nayapatti in Salt Lake on Wednesday night for allegedly selling illegal country liquor. Police raided two roadside eateries in Nayapatti and seized country spirit worth Rs one lakh.