Madhyamik student drowns in pond near Maidan

Kolkata: A Class X student drowned at a pond in the Maidan area on Sunday morning. The deceased teenager Shaad Khan is a resident of Park Street near Mullick Bazar.

Police sources said Shaad who had just appeared for his Madhyamik examination had gone to play football with some of his friends on Saturday late afternoon and the ball fell into the pond popularly known as Manohar Das Tarag.

They could not find the ball in the water as it had gone dark. Shaad along with his younger brother went to the same spot at around 7 am on Sunday to look for the ball and found it in the middle of the pond. Shaad opened his slippers on the stairs and dived into the water to pick up the ball.

After he picked up the ball and was swimming back to the bank of the pond, something got entangled with his legs and he started struggling in the water.

His brother Muzaffar raised an alarm and alerted the morning walkers in the area.

However, the teenager drowned in a few minutes before anybody could attempt to save him. An officer of Kolkata Mounted Police who was present in the area informed the Park Street police station. Divers from Kolkata Police's disaster management group fished out the body following which it was sent for post mortem. Shaad was an NCC cadet and expert in swimming too.

"His family members have informed that the victim was an expert in swimming. We are probing what led to his drowning," a senior police officer said.