6 friends die as car plunges into Kolar dam

BHOPAL: Six friends on a birthday joyride were killed after their car lost control and plunged into a dam in Sehore on the outskirts of Bhopal on Sunday evening. Their bodies were not located till Monday morning, by when fish had nibbled off chunks of flesh.


It’s not known who was driving the Beat but police believe the six crossed a narrow bridge near Veerpur at high speed, not realizing that they were headed for a blind turn. There was no warning sign or barricade, and the car drove off the road at the same speed, hurtling 40 feet into the water below. No one had a clue they had crashed.

Police say their vehicle veered off the road near

Kolar

filter plant, which is operated by public health engineering (PHE) department. They were reported missing by their family members on Sunday evening, but in the darkness no one spotted the car. The alarm was raised on Monday morning when the rear half of the car was seen sticking out the water.

Police arrived with heavy equipment and pulled out the car with all six dead inside. They were identified as Akash Gupta, Pankaj Sahu, Ranjeet Sahu, Abhijeet Rathore, Gaurav Sahu and Rajnish Patel – all in their twenties. They were celebrating Gupta’s 28th birthday and Patel’s appointment as a patwari. Apart from Patel, who is from Rewa, the others were from Bhopal.

Instead of a birthday, these families were making preparations for funeral on Monday.

“They had left home around 2pm to celebrate Gupta’s birthday. After 5pm all phones were unreachable. We got worried and informed Piplani police station in the morning. Around 9.30am, we were informed that a car was found submerged in

Kolar dam

,” said Surendra Sahu, a close relative of Ranjit.

Bilkisganj TI K G Shukla said that they received information about the car from villagers around 9am. “We pulled it out with a crane. It was shocking to find the six bodies inside,” said the officer. One of the bodies was dangling half way out of the rear left window the entire time it took for the car to be brought to dry ground. Police were still trying to ascertain their identities, when the victims’ relatives arrived, alerted by locals.

“Their family members had found out that the last location of their mobile phones was Kolar dam, and they headed straight for the spot,” said a police officer. The six were identified from ID cards found in their pockets. Police suspect they failed to unlock the doors and drowned. The high speed impact would have been deadly too.