2 IIT-Kharagpur students killed, 1 injured in highway crash

KHARAGPUR: Two fifth-year M.Tech students at IIT-Kharagpur, who were on the verge of taking up plum jobs, were killed and another fourth-year M.Tech student was critically injured in a road accident around 15 km from campus early on Saturday. The three were riding a bike along the wrong flank of NH 60 when an unidentified vehicle hit them, police said. None was wearing a helmet.


Abhinav Attri (28), who hailed from UP and studied Ocean and Naval Architecture, was found dead at the accident spot by police. Harshit Chahal (28) from Haryana’s Hisar, who studied Humanities and Social Sciences, succumbed to injuries at Midnapore Medical College Hospital. Bhawani Singh (27), from Rajasthan’s Bhiwani and a student of Electronics and Electrical Communication, was referred to a private hospital in Kolkata, where he is battling for life.

Police sources said the three students had left the campus for a late-night dinner at a dhaba in Kharagpur’s Chowringhee. While returning, the trio probably took the wrong flank to turn right into the Vidyasagar Industrial Park to avail of a short cut that would have take them to Inda in Kharagpur town, not far from their campus. This route is 3 km shorter than the conventional route. The cops are trying to ascertain if any CCTV camera in the vicinity captured the accident.

Around 2.45 am, locals informed a mobile patrol team of Kharagpur Local police station that an accident had taken place on NH 60 in front of the Vidyasagar Industrial Park.

The police team rushed to the spot and found the three students lying on the road in a pool of blood. One of them was already dead and the other two seriously injured.

Gloom descended on the IIT-Kgp campus as news of the sudden loss reached in the morning. While Abhinav and Harishit were residents of Azad Hall, Bhawani has his room in Meghnad Saha Hall.

“This is unbelievable. Abhinav and Harshit were in final year and had already found very good placements. Their parents are in a state of shock,” said one of their friends, who along with others rushed to Kolkata to receive their parents.

IIT-Kgp authorities refused to give details, saying they too were not sure why the three students had left the campus at night. “We are yet to ascertain details and are in touch with the local police,” a senior IIT-Kharagpur official said. According to the institute’s rules, students are not to leave campus between 11pm and 3 am although they are free to come in. Dean of students affairs, Somesh Kumar, said the administration would discuss the matter at length and work on developing measures to avoid such incidents in future.

“Any student who wants to leave the campus between 11pm and 3am has to take permission from the hostel warden and give the reason in writing. We are yet to find out what led the three to go out,” another student said.

The police are also investigating how the trio got hold of a bike and how they managed to sneak out of the campus. “The accident happened as the students were riding along the wrong side of NH 60. Moreover, all three were riding helmetless. We are trying to identify the vehicle that hit the bike,” West Midnapore SP Alok Rajoria said.