123 Kolkata: A third-year student from Jadavpur University died in his rented accommodation in Santoshpur on Wednesday after he complained of feeling unwell. His roommate, who had gone to get medicine for the victim at 7 pm, returned at 8 pm to find him lying unconscious. Pratip Kumar Manna (21) was then taken to Apex Nursing Home and then to KPC Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. The victim's parents, however, are not convinced by the roommate's version of events and cops have launched a probe to verify if there was any delay on the part of his friends to shift him to hospital and whether a game he played earlier that evening had any bearing on the death.
Manna, originally from Tamluk, was enrolled in the food technology and biochemical engineering department. The primary postmortem revealed that Manna might have succumbed to his diseased liver condition.
"He was staying on BM Mondal Road and his exams were on. He suddenly complained of breathing issues and felt uneasy. Manna's friend went out to get medicine but when he came back, he saw Manna lying unconscious," said DC (SSD-Jadavpur) Bidisha Kalita.
"We received information around 10.14 pm on Wednesday from Bimal Karmakar, GM, KPC Medical College and Hospital, that Manna had been declared brought dead. During inquiry, it was learnt that he stayed with his friend, a 3rd year civil engineering at JU who was from Daspur in West Midnapore," said joint CP (crime and traffic) Rupesh Kumar.
One of Manna's relatives said they came to Kolkata as soon as they heard about his illness. But everything was over before they arrived. "We could have been informed earlier," the relative said.
Sunita Adhikari, Manna's HOD, said, "The student was unwell and was not regular in exams or classes. We are deeply saddened by this incident."
The university's medical superintendent, Mitali Dev, said, "I heard he had breathing problems but I haven't learned in detail how he died."