‘We want to know truth… will file police complaint,’ says family of student who drowned in Lucknow school pool

Speaking to The Indian Express on Sunday, Lucknow Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Zone) Vineet Jaiswal said that while the school is conducting an internal inquiry, a probe by the police is on.

“The school holds swimming lessons every day. Like any other day, swimming lessons were held on Friday too. This student (Om Budhouliya) was still learning how to swim and used to be in the shallow side of the pool mostly. Around 6 pm, the power went off and all the children left the pool, and he most probably got left behind. Later, school officials realised that he was not there for the headcount, and a search began. His body was found in the deep end of the pool,” said Jaiswal.

“In the postmortem report, the cause of death is drowning. So far, we haven’t received a complaint. If we do, we will take action accordingly. The family came and took the body on Saturday,” Jaiswal added.

Om, a native of Jalaun district, hails from a family with members in the CRPF. His family said that he wanted to join the Indian Army after finishing school.

“It is definitely the school’s negligence which resulted in losing our son. There are trainers in the pool, teachers… No one saw him. If this is investigated thoroughly, then we may get to know the truth. We will give a written complaint against the school administration,” said Shivshankar Budhouliya, the student’s uncle.

“Yesterday (Saturday), we weren’t in the right frame of mind and therefore, we couldn’t lodge a complaint. But we will definitely lodge a complaint with the police. We want justice. And whoever is responsible should be punished. We want to know who is responsible for this,” added Shivshankar Budhouliya, who is in CRPF.

In a statement, school principal Colonel Rajesh Raghav said an internal probe has been constituted to “ascertain the circumstances under which such a big lapse occurred, resulting in loss of life of a young cadet”. “The incident was first reported during dinner time when Cadet Om was surprisingly missing. At that moment, an extensive search began and on the basis of strong indications provided by his fellow classmates, the body was found beneath the water level of the huge swimming pool,” the principal said.

Om had joined the school in class VI. His family said that he was a school topper and brilliant in sports as well as studies. Om’s father Manoj Budhouliya (45) is posted in the 63rd battalion of the CRPF in Ayodhya.