College student found dead

Pratik’s father Ranjit Sikdar said: “Pratik was visibly disturbed for a few days. On Sunday,he returned home around 1.30 am and told us that one of his friends who had met with an accident had to be admitted to SSKM. He was very tired when he returned. On Monday,he looked normal. He went out around 3 pm,leaving his phone at home. We were worried and an FIR was filed with the Jadavpur PS. Later,at around 9 pm,I got a call from the GRP and was told that Pratik’s body was found near Jadavpur Station.”

Eyewitnesses said Pratik was seen with two boys and a girl at Jadavpur Station around 6 pm on Monday. “Two of his college friends — Soumyadeep and Subhajit — and a girl,who was not from the college,seem to be involved. They are absconding,” said a senior police official. He also said the call records and messages have been deleted from Pratik’s phone. “We will check his call records and messages. We are also checking his presence on social networking sites.

Abhirup Chowdhury,a friend of Pratik,said: “He was a reserved student. He did not come to tuition classes on Sunday or Monday. I heard he had told at home that Soumyadeep had met with an accident. But we found out it was not the case. I don’t know why he had lied at home.” His teachers were all praise for Pratik. “He was a good,ambitious student and wanted to go to abroad,” said Gautam Mahapatra,head of the computer science department.