SUV-in-Ganga case posers unanswered

Patna: Operations to fish out the SUV that had plunged into the Ganga from the Gandhi Setu on Tuesday drew blank on Wednesday.

Till 6pm on Wednesday, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel had not been able to find the SUV which had fallen into the river from near pillar No. 38 of the bridge. Patna police are probing whether a boy missing from the Kankerbagh area was in the vehicle.

The family members of Aadarsh Kumar (14), a Class IX student of Birla Open Minds school, have lodged a missing person case. Aadarsh, according to the cops, left home in his father’s white Scorpio around 3.15am on Tuesday and was last seen near Dhunki Mor.

Patna superintendent of police (East) Rajendra Singh Bheel said: “The circumstantial evidence from the spot and sudden disappearance of the boy indicates that the SUV which plunged into the Ganga was being driven by Aadarsh. However, we are waiting for the rescue teams which are trying to fish out the vehicle from river.

“The CCTV cameras at Dhunki Mor clearly show an SUV, having registration number BR-01-PJ-2028, getting on to the Setu. However, this is the last CCTV footage. The footage from the Hajipur end also shows a white SUV plunging into the river after breaking the iron boundary wall, but as the camera is located quite far from the spot, the vehicle registration number is not visible,” he added.

The boy’s family is not convinced. “If my son had to commit suicide he would have jumped into the river while going towards Hajipur. Why he will return from the Hajipur end?” asked Aadarsh’s father Bipin Kumar Singh.

Bipin said his son was with a girl he has an affair with. Bheel said the girl has told the cops that she was with Aadarsh on Monday night.

“The girl told us that Aadarsh left after dropping her, claiming that he was going to his house,” the SP said.

Courtesy: The Telegraph