A day after a 23-year-old college student died after he entered a 20-foot-deep water-filled vacant plot in Noida Sector 94, police said on Thursday that his autopsy revealed that he had died of drowning.
“The post-mortem, conducted under the supervision of a panel, revealed that he died of asphyxia due to drowning. It further mentioned sand and mud found in the trachea (windpipe),” said Praveen Singh, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Noida.
Police had identified the victim as Harshit Bhatt, a third-year student of Bachelor of Physical Education student at Amity University and a resident of Indirapuram, Ghaziabad.
According to the police, Bhatt had gone to the vacant plot with three friends in the afternoon on Wednesday after the end of an exam, carrying liquor bottles.
Sumnesh Kumar, station house officer (SHO) of Sector 126, told HT, “After finishing the exam, they left college around 1:30 pm, they went to two places around the college and reached the spot around 2.30pm on two motorcycles. After over an hour-long conversation and celebration, Bhatt decided to take a bath.”
An officer linked to the investigation said that after leaving the college, the four went to two liquor shops in the nearby area as captured in a CCTV footage there.
While, initially, he was on the edge of the pit, where the water was shallow, he drowned after moving into deeper water. Police and locals rescued Bhatt after 45 minutes of effort and rushed him to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
The medical examination of the three friends on Wednesday revealed that they were under the influence of alcohol. However, it was not clear if Bhatt was also inebriated. Officials said that, in case of drowning, the autopsy report cannot reveal if the deceased was under the influence of alcohol, as the windpipe gets choked and water enters the internal parts of the body.
His post-mortem was conducted in the presence of his family. Talking to media, his mother, Deepmala Bhatt, said the family suspected foul play because there were “marks all over his body”.
Police, however, said that the marks occurred due to bushes. “The scratches and marks on Bhatt’s body occurred after his body was retrieved from bushes,” said SHO Kumar.
ACP Singh, meanwhile said, “The post-mortem report mentioned that there were only 0.5 mm marks found on his body.”
In that light, police said they had requested a panel and videography of the autopsy and considering all the facts of the case. No FIR has been registered as yet since no complaint has been filed as yet In case, any complaint is filed alleging foul play, it will be looked into, said a senior police officer.
A scan of Bhatt’s Instagram revealed that he, along with his friends, had visited the spot on March 7 and 11. However, there was no confirmation if they had tried to swim at the time. “They said they only went for photoshoot, said the SHO.