La Mart top-ranker found dead in lake

February 11, 2012

la_mart

Kolkata, February 11: A 17-year-old boy, who was among the top-rankers in class and aimed to crack the civil services exams, was found dead in Rabindra Sarovar on Friday morning.

Riju Basak, a Class XI student of La Martiniere for Boys, was missing since the previous evening. At 6pm on Thursday, he made a last call to his mother but did not utter a word. Maybe he only wanted to hear his mother's voice. Police believe Riju, his parents' only child, committed suicide. But what is baffling them is that he didn't have any apparent motive to kill himself. Riju's father Kamal Basak, a businessman, refuses to believe it was a suicide. This is the second time this month that a top-ranking school student in Kolkata has committed suicide. A few days ago, two classmates of Julien Day School jumped off a four-storeyed building in a suicide pact after allegedly being pulled up by the principal for dodging a PT class. The girl died and the boy is battling for life.

Riju - Bubun to friends - was a humanities student at La Martiniere. He had left his home in central Kolkata's Chaitanya Lane for school on Wednesday. After classes, he and two schoolmates went to attend a conference at Max Mueller Bhavan. The trio had been selected for a culture exchange workshop. A vehicle arranged by Max Mueller Bhavan reportedly dropped Riju near Chandni Metro station, less than 1km from his home. But the boy never turned up.

Riju had an excellent aca d e m i c record, was well mannered and very hard working, says his family. Definitely not the type to commit suicide, they insist. "Bubun had called his mother around 6pm. Though his mother kept talking to him, he did not utter a single word. It seems he just wanted to hear his mother's voice," said father Kajal Basak, choking on tears. By the time his mother called him back, his number was 'unavailable'.

The family was concerned when Riju did not turn up but not alarmed. Panic set in when insurance agent Tarun Kumar Mallik, a stranger to the Basaks, called up at 9pm to say the boy's schoolbag, shoes and socks were found lying near Bhabani Cinema in Charu Market, about half a kilometre from Rabindar Sarovar.

"The gentleman called up after finding our phone number from his ID card. We immediately rushed there. We searched desperately for him," said uncle Anup Basak. A missing person's diary was lodged with Bowbazar police.

The family kept trying Riju's phone all night only to find it switched off every time. However, around 8am on Friday, when they dialed Riju's number from the maidservant's phone, his phone rang. There was a moment of hope. "The person on the other end asked who I was. I hurriedly passed the phone to Riju's father. By then, the phone was again switched off," said Anup.

Police zeroed in on the location of Riju's mobile and the family frantically went around the Lake Gardens, Rabindra Sarovar area. Around noon, someone informed them that the police were pulling out a body from the lake. They rushed there, only to find it was Riju. He was wearing his school trousers and had a scarf around his neck. His shirt and tie were missing. There is no trace of the boy's watch and cellphone, says Basak. But a gold bracelet was found intact.

The family claimed that the school and police told them not to inform the media about the missing boy. The school about the missing boy from his parents. "He was a good student and did well in the last examination. He was one among the three students to attend a cultural exchange workshop at Max Muller Bhawan on Wednesday and the organizers dropped him near Chandni Chowk Metro station between 5 and 5.30pm," said Supriya Dhar, secretary to the board of governors, La Martiniere for Boys. "There was definitely no study pressure on the boy," said principal Sunirmal Chakraborty.

Police say this wasn't the first time Riju went missing. He ran away from home last year and was traced to a place in North 24-Parganas.

Riju got admitted to La Martiniere this year after finishing his Class X from Don Bosco School, Park Circus. He spent his spare time writing poems and playing the guitar. He was known to be an introvert. Police suspect he was suffering from depression. "Prima facie, it is a case of suicide," said joint CP (crime) Damayanti Sen. The family refuses to accept this. "My son wanted to become a bureaucrat. And he worked hard for that. All that is gone now," said Basak, who runs a catering business and also trades in precious stones.


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News Network
May 9,2020

New Delhi, May 9: A 23-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide at the AIIMS here after her mother died of cancer at the hospital, police said on Saturday.

She was reported missing after her mother passed away on Wednesday and her body was found near the new private ward block of the hospital on Saturday, they said, adding that she fell to her death from a building.

"Her mother was a cancer patient. She was being treated at the hospital and had died during treatment on Wednesday," Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said.

Her father was busy in the formalities when she left the area. She was reported missing since Wednesday. The family hails from Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh, a senior police officer said.

Hospital staff noticed the body and informed the police. The block was closed due to which nobody found out about it earlier, police said.

Police said she had called her friends and told them that she was going to kill herself. The body has been recovered and an inquest proceeding is underway.

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News Network
June 30,2020

Visakhapatnam, Jun 30: Two people were killed and four others were taken ill after benzene gas leaked at a pharmaceutical company at Parawada near here early on Tuesday morning, official sources said.

The situation was now under control as the leak was restricted to one unit in the Sainor Life Sciences company, the sources said.

The two killed were senior employees of the company, they said.

The injured persons have been admitted to a hospital in Gajuwaka, with one of them being put on ventilator support, the sources added.

District Collector V Vinay Chand and Police Commissioner R K Meena visited the company to take stock of the situation.

The cause of the leak that took place in a reactor unit at the plant is yet to be established.

The incident comes nearly two months after 11 people were killed and over 1000 taken ill after gas leak at a chemical plant here.

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News Network
March 28,2020

Hyderabad, Mar 28: Seven labourers from Karnataka were killed and four injured when the van in which they were travelling was hit by a truck near Pedda Golconda on the outskirts of the city late on Friday night, police said.

The deceased included two children. Of the 31 workers in the van, five died on the spot and two while undergoing treatment at a hospital, Assistant Commissioner of Traffic Vishwa Prasad said.
Four others were hospitalised and the condition of one of them is critical, he said, adding the other workers in the van escaped with minor injuries.

The workers were on their way back to their home town Raichur in Karnataka as the road project they were working in at Suryapet here was stalled due to the lockdown, Prasad said.

He said initital investigations revealed that the mango laden truck, which was on its way to Gujarat, was overspeeding.

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