Odisha: Two college students drown in reservoirs of dams, one found hanging in hostel room

NEW DELHI: Odisha reported three unnatural deaths of college students, with two drowning in reservoirs of dams and one found hanging from the ceiling fan of his hostel room, police said on Friday. A final year BTech student of VSSUT, Burla drowned in Hirakud Dam reservoir on Thursday evening. The deceased, identified as Saswati Bhoi, aged around 22 years, slipped and fell into deep waters while taking a bath along with her friends, a police officer said, adding that the students had violated an existing ban on bathing at the spot.

Twenty-year-old Sritam Pradhan, an MBBS student of a private medical college in Bhubaneswar, also drowned while taking a bath in Derejang Dam reservoir in Angul district on Wednesday. His body was fished out on Thursday. He hailed from Tainsa village in Angul district and had come to the village where the dam is located to participate in the birthday celebration of a friend, Jarapada police station inspector-in-charge Manoj Kumar Pradhan said, adding a case of unnatural death has been registered.

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Meanwhile, the body of a 22-year-old BTech final year student, identified as Sandeep Lenka, was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his hostel room in his college in Gunupur in Rayagad district on Thursday, another police officer said. The Computer Science student had been placed with a firm in Bengaluru and had come to the institute last week to take final year examinations, he said.

His friends said that Lenka had participated in the farewell function held on the campus on Wednesday night. His body was found in his hostel room the next morning, Gunupur police station inspector in-charge Uttam Kumar Sahu said, adding that an investigation is underway.