Hindustan Times (Lucknow)

Watery grave for six youngsters

Onlooker ends life after lover couple jumps into Gomti

- HT Correspond­ent

In a baffling incident, an unidentifi­ed youth jumped into the Gomti from Gandhi Setu only an hour after a lover couple took a plunge into the river from the same spot in Gomti Nagar on Friday afternoon.

The youth took the shocking step while standing among hundreds of onlookers when cops, with the help of local divers, were searching for the couple’s bodies. The bodies were not found till last reports came in.

The lover couple was identified as a Vrindavan colony resident Abhijeet Rai, 19 and a Lakhimpur Kheri resident Neha, 18 – both Class 12 passouts from Central school in Cantonment.

Abhijeet’s father Sudhakar Rai is a constable in state intelligen­ce unit while Neha’s father Hari Shankar is a retired armyman and earlier stayed in Lucknow cantonment. Neha and her family had shifted to their native village in Kheri only a month ago. Neha was missing from her house since Thursday and a police complaint regarding her disappeara­nce was also registered with the Kheri police. The unidentifi­ed youth was also missing from his house since Friday morning. “The couple was spotted roaming around Gandhi Setu for last several hours. They jumped into the river as their families were apparently against their relationsh­ip,” said sub-inspector Rakesh Singh of Gomti Nagar police station. He said the police were trying to find their bodies.

On the incident of another youth jumping into the river, Singh said many onlookers claimed seeing the youth drowning when cops were searching the couple’s bodies. The incident could be confirmed only after the bodies are found, he said.

 ??  ?? Cops and onlookers at the spot from where a couple jumped into Gomti on Friday afternoon and (below) a policeman holding up a bag recovered from the river that belonged to one of the victims.
Cops and onlookers at the spot from where a couple jumped into Gomti on Friday afternoon and (below) a policeman holding up a bag recovered from the river that belonged to one of the victims.
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HT

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