Kolkata: More than 12 hours after a young woman and a male teenager went missing on Monday night, their bodies were fished out of Nonadanga Canal under Anandapur PS on Tuesday.
The deceased have been identified as Ronita Baidya (23), and Rohit Agarwal (19), both residents of Anandapur area. They were last seen alive near the bridge of the canal where Ronita had apparently gone to learn how to ride a scooterette that she had received from her family. She called Rohit, a student who worked part time as a delivery boy and whom she had known for a while, to help her. Eyewitnesses claimed they saw the two having a bitter argument, following which Ronita was seen running towards the canal with an alarmed Rohit running behind her. Police had received a call stating that a young woman and a man had jumped into the canal. According to Joint CP (crime & traffic) Rupesh Kumar, the local Anandapur PS received a distress call around 9.30 pm on Monday, reporting that a young man and woman had jumped into the canal from the Nonadanga Khal bridge. Cops arrived at the scene to find a crowd gathered, with an elderly eyewitness stepping forward to provide crucial information.
"The witness recounted seeing the duo on a two-wheeler, engaged in a heated argument. The situation escalated when Ronita reportedly dismounted from the scooter and ran towards the canal, with Rohit in pursuit. Moments later, they heard a splash, indicating that at least one person had jumped in. CCTV footage from a nearby wine shop corroborated the witness's account, showing the duo running towards the canal," said Kumar. The accounts led to a search operation by Kolkata Police Disaster Management Group (DMG) that continued throughout the night. Rohit's body was recovered near Hussain Enterprise at Chowbhaga around 12.10 pm on Tuesday. The keys of the scooter were found in his clothes. The services of a sniffer dog was requisitioned. Ronita's body was ultimately recovered a little distance away around 3.30 pm. Incidentally, Ronita's family had initially lodged a complaint, fearing she might have been pushed deliberately into the water by Rohit.
The two bodies did not have any external injuries.
Police suspect the deaths are a result of a probable affair gone awry. They are waiting for post-mortem reports and more circumstantial evidence to ascertain the exact cause of death. Cops have recovered the scoterette and mobile phone believed to be Ronita's and are questioning family members and locals to try and ascertain the chain of events leading to the twin deaths.
The police are examining several CCTV clips to piece together the sequence of events leading to the tragedy. The initial footage reveals a confrontation between the two around 45 minutes before the incident, with Ronita running towards the canal with Rohit in pursuit. "The absence of visible external injuries on the bodies has led us to be cautious and await autopsy results to confirm drowning as the cause of death," said an officer.