Drowning in Noida pit: student’s family alleges foul play

Family of a college student who drowned in Noida pit alleges foul play, raising questions despite police ruling accidental death.

The family of a 23-year-old college student, who drowned in a waterlogged pit at an abandoned construction site in Noida’s Sector 94 on Wednesday, alleged foul play in the incident on Thursday, saying there were marks on his body even as the police confirmed drowning as the cause of death.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Noida) Saad Miyan Khan said sand and water were found in the lungs of the deceased, identified as Harshit Bhat, while his viscera has been preserved for further examination.

Bhat, a final-year Bachelor of Physical Education student at a private university and resident of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, drowned in the pit under the Sector 126 police station limits.

The DCP on Wednesday had said the student had gone to the site along with three friends to celebrate the end of their examinations. “During the outing, Bhat entered a nearby water-filled pit to bathe and suddenly drowned,” the officer had said, adding that the incident was reported by one of his friends.

A day later, the Noida police questioned all three friends of the deceased to establish the chronology of events. While the deceased’s family told mediapersons that there were “black marks” on his body, raising suspicion over the incident, the police said they had not received a formal complaint from the family.

“An eyewitness told us that they had run towards the water-filled pit when they heard cries for help, but they claimed to have not seen or heard anything else,” the officer said.