'Swimmer' drowning in pool baffles police; viscera report awaited

Nagpur: The Bajaj Nagar cops are waiting for the viscera and histopathology analysis by forensic experts to throw some light on the unexplained drowning of 37-year-old Kunal Safelkar in the NIT swimming pool on North Ambazari Road on April 23, which was registered as accidental death case.

Since Safelkar had mentioned himself as a ‘swimmer’ in the declaration form, the cops and the pool management are left puzzled by Safelkar’s drowning.

The Bajaj Nagar police were left in a complex situation as the cause of death in the post-mortem report was reserved until after further forensic processes.

There were CCTV cameras but footage could not be retrieved as external cameras were damaged in the rains and had stopped functioning, said sources. Police are now mainly dependent upon eye-witness accounts and statements of the guards, coaches and fellow swimmers.

According to an eye-witness, Safelkar was ‘bobbing’ (an exercise for rhythmic breathing in water) in the pool without the support of the sidewall when he suddenly did not resurface.

Sources from the pool administration stated there were life guards and swimming coaches present, who had been monitoring and guiding swimmers, during the incident. “The life guards and coaches had seen Safelkar chatting with friends while bobbing in the pool. One of the swimmers spotted Safelkar going down and not resurfacing. He was immediately pulled up and brought out of the pool by the life guards and the others,” said the source.

As per the source, there were a couple of doctors there, who tried to revive him. “Despite pumping hard, he did not throw up much water and remained motionless,” said the source.

Senior inspector of Bajaj Nagar police station Vithal Singh Rajput said the pool management has been asked to submit the relevant documents on deployment of guards, coaches, safety measures, contracts with the civic bodies, and other issues regarding the CCTV cameras and their footage. “Police will wait for the complete forensic report, especially the contents of the viscera, which had been preserved. We are trying to recover the CCTV footage. Statements of eye-witnesses are being recorded,” said the officer.

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