Gurdaspur girls made up drowning story; run away from home

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, July 15

In a dramatic turnaround in events, the two girls who were believed to have drowned while clicking selfies, a development which had led nearly a hundred army and police personnel to go on a wild-goose chase for 18 hours, have actually run away from home.

Around 10 pm on Friday, the administration substantially reduced the flow of water in the UBDC canal in the area where the girls were said to have drowned. An hour later, the army divers informed the administration that they could not locate the bodies despite scouting the canal. Police officers then started expressing apprehensions whether the girls had actually drowned.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The focus then shifted to Sophia, the younger sister of Lovepreet Kaur (21) who was said to have drowned with her friend Nisha (18) in the canal flowing under the Sathiali bridge located on the Gurdaspur-Sri Hargobindpur road.

Two Gurdaspur girls drown while attempting to click selfie

It was based on the complaint of Sophia, who had claimed that she was a witness to the incident, that the police and army had initiated the search operation on Friday morning.

After two hours of sustained questioning, Sophia told the cops that the “entire story was cooked up” and the girls had fled home with their boyfriends in a car on Friday morning.
Reports said on Friday that the two girls were clicking selfies when Nisha, who was perched dangerously on the edge of the Sathiali bridge, suddenly slipped. As she fell into the canal, she tried to hold Lovepreet's arm, a move that proved fatal for both, eyewitnesses said.   

By afternoon, after search operations by district administration failed, army divers were called in to help.