Mystery shrouds Kolkata teen’s death

While some investigators think the death was an accident, circumstantial evidence suggests foul play

More than 48 hours after the shocking death of teenager Aabesh Dasgupta, the Kolkata police are yet to figure out whether it was an accident or murder, as alleged by his family. The boy was found bleeding and surrounded by half a dozen friends in the parking lot of a posh residential apartment on Saturday evening.

The seven teenagers, including the daughter of author Amit Chaudhuri, had returned to her Sunny Park residence in Ballygunge after attending a birthday bash at a club with a larger group .

Though they are probing all aspects of the case, a section of the investigators is inclined towards the accident theory -- that 17-yearold Aabesh was clutching a beer bottle under his arm when he tripped and fell. The broken glass shards sliced an artery below his armpit and he bled to death. However, the post mortem report was not out till Monday evening.

According to police, on Saturday afternoon 17 friends, all minors, went to a private club in South Kolkata where they consumed alcohol. Then seven of them came to Sunny Towers, where the birthday girl lives, and continued the merrymaking in the parking lot.

“Injuries on his left armpit suggest that he might have tripped... some friends have claimed he was drinking from a bottle in his right hand and carrying another bottle under his left arm,” said an officer.

What the apartment guards told the police is also curious: they heard a brawl in the basement which got louder. When they reached there, Aabesh was lying in a pool of blood and none else was around. The guards then informed Chaudhuri.

In a statement issued after the incident, Chaudhuri said the family never knew the boy. “We tried to help a young man none of us knew and feel distressed not to have succeeded in doing this.”

The police say Whatsapp messages from Aabesh’s cell phone also hint at some tension among the friends over a girl. Sources told HT that Aabesh was trying to establish relations with a girl and some friends did not like it.

“Although the girl was not with them on Saturday, Aabesh and a couple of his friends exchanged heated words on Whatsapp centering on the girl. The two are under our scanner,” an officer added.