Jadavpur University alumnus drowns in jheel on campus after Holi celebration

KOLKATA: The body of a Jadavpur University ex-student, who had graduated from the architecture department in 2022, was fished out of a water body on the campus on Wednesday afternoon. He had gone to the campus to celebrate Holi with friends, three among them current students and two former students of JU.
According to witnesses, Md Ashif Mondal (24), a resident of ODRC Government Housing Estate near Taratala, was chatting with his friends on the edge of the jheel near the metallurgy department when he slipped and fell into the water around 3.45pm. Some said he was trying to wash his face, when he accidentally fell into the water. Some of Ashif's friends dived into the water but failed to find him. One of them then dialled 100. "Cops from the Jadavpur police station called up the university registrar. With her consent, we sent Disaster Management Group (DMG) divers from the police station. We attended the call at 3.50 pm and by 4.10pm, the victim was fished out. He was taken to SSKM Hospital, where he was declared dead," said DC (SSD) Surya Kumar Yadav.
Cops, who are collecting CCTV footage from the campus, are yet to ascertain how Ashif drowned. Police said no complaint had been registered so far. "His father is a former Kolkata Police employee. We are waiting for the post-mortem report," said an investigating officer.
JU students told TOI Ashif was celebrating Holi and was chatting with his friends on the side of the water body. Sources from JU claimed they were trying to find out whether the students were "sober" or not when Ashif fell in the water. A student said, "It is difficult to say how the incident happened as I was not there. But I learnt that two of his friends dived into the water to rescue him but could not find him. Ashif had asthma." All those present near the place have been asked to record their statements with police.
JU pro-VC Chiranjib Bhattacharjee said, "It is a sad incident that had happened in spite of tight security on the campus. Former and current students of JU celebrate Holi on campus. We arranged for extra security this year. But despite all sorts of security measures, it is not always possible to avert such incidents."
Sources said the authority had tried to restrict entry of students, ex-students and "outsiders" on holidays and late in the evening to avoid any untoward incident on the campus. But there had been protests from students against such a bar. JUTA general secretary Partha Pratim Ray said, "It is a very sad incident. All stakeholders of the university should consider this incident and take measures so that such an incident is averted in future."