A pall of gloom descended on Chandigarh University when news of the death of one of its associate professors and his two young daughters reached the campus on Sunday. Sandeep Kumar (37) and his young daughters Amanat and Prapti were charred to death when their car caught fire on the Chandigarh-Ambala highway near Shahabad on Saturday night. Sandeep, as associate professor of civil engineering at Chandigarh University, was returning from his hometown of Sonepat to Chandigarh with his wife, mother, and brother, his wife and son. The professor was driving his Ertiga when sparks emerged from the car’s trunk, quickly filling the vehicle with smoke. The car doors reportedly locked, trapping the family inside. Sandeep and his daughters succumbed to suffocation and burns before Sushil could open the locks. Sandeep’s wife Lakshmi sustained serious burn injuries and was admitted to the PGIMER. The tragic incident took place near Mohri in Shabbat around 11 pm on Saturday. The CU staff held two minutes of silence on the campus on Monday noon after the bodies were cremated at the Sector 25 cremation grounds. The news also sent shockwaves in the Sacred Heart school at Sector 26, where the two young girls were studying. The school declared a holiday on Monday in their memory. “It is with profound grief that we are informing you about the sad demise of our beloved students, Amanat, her sister Prapti, and their father,” the school circular read. A Chandigarh University official said Sandeep was a very hard working and popular professor. “We are all in a state of shock.” He said Sandeep had completed his PhD just a week ago and had sent an excited message to the chancellor Satnam Singh Sandhu. “Our chancellor is also deeply saddened by this incident, for he knew Sandeep personally since he had been working with the university for over nine years,” the university said. Faculty members remember him as a very helpful person who would take active part in the campus placements and other activities besides academics. Supreet Dhiman, who runs a group of volunteers (CATS), said Sandeep was an avid blood donor. “A regular donor, he would bring in his wife, brother, bhabi and cousins to CATS camps. Basically, he would rope in anyone who was available to donate blood. He always spoke about becoming a centurion blood donor — smilingly, joyously,” she posted on Facebook while mourning his loss.
