The bodies of three missing students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Silchar were recovered from a waterfall in Assam’s Dima Hasao district, police said on Sunday.
The students, who had gone for an outing on Saturday morning, reportedly fell into a waterfall near Harangajao village. While the body of one student was recovered on Saturday evening, the other two were found around 12.30 pm on Sunday, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Sarva Kritika (20), Sauhard Rai (20) and Radhika Kumari (19). Police said that Kritika and Rai were residents of Uttar Pradesh, while Radhika hailed from Bihar.
Dima Hasao additional superintendent of police (ASP), Farukh Ahmed, said they received information about an accident at Harangajao on Saturday afternoon and two teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were immediately dispatched to the spot.
“After a thorough search, one body was recovered on Saturday evening, and today two more bodies were found under the water. All three have been sent to Haflong for post-mortem examination,” Ahmed said on Sunday.
NIT Silchar director, professor Dilip Kumar Baidya, confirmed that all three were first-year students. He said they had left the institute premises without following campus protocols.
“We have a rule that every student must inform the concerned authorities before going out. Unfortunately, some students violate this rule, and it happened in this case as well,” Baidya said.
{{/usCountry}}“We have a rule that every student must inform the concerned authorities before going out. Unfortunately, some students violate this rule, and it happened in this case as well,” Baidya said.
{{/usCountry}}He added that the parents of the students have been informed and asked to visit the institute. According to police in Dima Hasao, the parents of two students have already reached the district, while the others are on their way.
“Since the incident occurred in Dima Hasao, the local police are handling the legal formalities. If the parents wish to collect the bodies directly from Haflong, they will be allowed to do so. If they want the bodies brought to the NIT campus, we will facilitate that as well,” the director said.
Meanwhile, some parents have raised questions about the safety measures in place at NIT Silchar, alleging that the institute should have monitored student movements more closely.
The director said that the institute is now preparing to tighten its security measures and student movement rules in the aftermath of the tragedy.
“We were already working on it, but after this unfortunate incident, we will introduce some additional rules to ensure better safety and accountability,” Baidya added.