Gurdaspur, August 21
Two students of the Institute of Hotel Management, Gurdaspur, — 20-year-old Narinder Singal of Delhi and 18-year-old Abhinav Sharma of Panchkula — were drowned in the Ravi today.
The two were among 10 friends who had gone to Madhopur headworks near Pathankot for a picnic. One of the students went near the bank of the Ravi to click a photograph. He slipped and fell into the river. The other student jumped into the river to save his friend but was carried away by the strong current of the water.
A third student, Sonu Sachdeva of Chandigarh, also jumped into the river to save his friends.He was caught in the strong currents, but managed to swim to safety.
Due to the paddy season about 11000 cusecs of water is being released into the Ravi for the UBDC canal system. Because of the strong current the bodies of the students might have been flushed into the UBDC canal system.
Till the filing of this report the bodies had not been located. The local authorities have informed the families of the drowned students.
The Principal of the institute, Mr CM Bhan, who reached the spot in afternoon, said the students had got out of the institute on the pretext of shopping. But they later came to the Madhopur headworks for the picnic.
The SP of Pathankot, Mr Manminder Singh, said the students generally came to Madhopur for swimming. The institute authorities and the students had been warned about the danger of swimming in the lake.
A police case will be registered only after the bodies are recovered, he said.
