12-yr-old boy drowned, police rule out foul play

The post-mortem report of Chirag Patel (12), a Class 5 student of Jijamata Convent School, Koparkhairane has confirmed that he died due to drowning.

The post-mortem report of Chirag Patel (12), a Class 5 student of Jijamata Convent School, Koparkhairane has confirmed that he died due to drowning.

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Patel’s body was found in the filtration plant of the resort near Pune on Wednesday, where he had gone for a school picnic on Tuesday.

The police have booked his teacher, Jasmine Shaikh; resort owner, Ashok Ahuja and staff of the resort for negligence.Chirag’s father Narayan said the school and management of Sentosa Resort knew about the death but hid it from them.

The school authorities returned from the trip, despite Chirag having gone missing. Principal Deborah Levi refused to comment. She had earlier said she was not informed of the incident by her staff till late evening. Resort authorities could not be contacted.

The police have ruled out murder. “The post-mortem report has stated that the child died due to drowning,” said Sub-Inspector B.D. Mondale.

“The child, while climbing the stairs of a water slide, probably went to the filtration plant and slipped in it.”Chirag’s body was cremated on Thursday.