La Mart top-ranker found dead in lake

Kolkata, February 11: A 17-year-old boy, who was among the top-rankers in class and aimed to crack the civil services exams, was found dead in Rabindra Sarovar on Friday morning.

Riju Basak, a Class XI student of La Martiniere for Boys, was missing since the previous evening. At 6pm on Thursday, he made a last call to his mother but did not utter a word. Maybe he only wanted to hear his mother's voice. Police believe Riju, his parents' only child, committed suicide. But what is baffling them is that he didn't have any apparent motive to kill himself. Riju's father Kamal Basak, a businessman, refuses to believe it was a suicide. This is the second time this month that a top-ranking school student in Kolkata has committed suicide. A few days ago, two classmates of Julien Day School jumped off a four-storeyed building in a suicide pact after allegedly being pulled up by the principal for dodging a PT class. The girl died and the boy is battling for life.

Riju - Bubun to friends - was a humanities student at La Martiniere. He had left his home in central Kolkata's Chaitanya Lane for school on Wednesday. After classes, he and two schoolmates went to attend a conference at Max Mueller Bhavan. The trio had been selected for a culture exchange workshop. A vehicle arranged by Max Mueller Bhavan reportedly dropped Riju near Chandni Metro station, less than 1km from his home. But the boy never turned up.

Riju had an excellent aca d e m i c record, was well mannered and very hard working, says his family. Definitely not the type to commit suicide, they insist. "Bubun had called his mother around 6pm. Though his mother kept talking to him, he did not utter a single word. It seems he just wanted to hear his mother's voice," said father Kajal Basak, choking on tears. By the time his mother called him back, his number was 'unavailable'.

The family was concerned when Riju did not turn up but not alarmed. Panic set in when insurance agent Tarun Kumar Mallik, a stranger to the Basaks, called up at 9pm to say the boy's schoolbag, shoes and socks were found lying near Bhabani Cinema in Charu Market, about half a kilometre from Rabindar Sarovar.

"The gentleman called up after finding our phone number from his ID card. We immediately rushed there. We searched desperately for him," said uncle Anup Basak. A missing person's diary was lodged with Bowbazar police.

The family kept trying Riju's phone all night only to find it switched off every time. However, around 8am on Friday, when they dialed Riju's number from the maidservant's phone, his phone rang. There was a moment of hope. "The person on the other end asked who I was. I hurriedly passed the phone to Riju's father. By then, the phone was again switched off," said Anup.

Police zeroed in on the location of Riju's mobile and the family frantically went around the Lake Gardens, Rabindra Sarovar area. Around noon, someone informed them that the police were pulling out a body from the lake. They rushed there, only to find it was Riju. He was wearing his school trousers and had a scarf around his neck. His shirt and tie were missing. There is no trace of the boy's watch and cellphone, says Basak. But a gold bracelet was found intact.

The family claimed that the school and police told them not to inform the media about the missing boy. The school about the missing boy from his parents. "He was a good student and did well in the last examination. He was one among the three students to attend a cultural exchange workshop at Max Muller Bhawan on Wednesday and the organizers dropped him near Chandni Chowk Metro station between 5 and 5.30pm," said Supriya Dhar, secretary to the board of governors, La Martiniere for Boys. "There was definitely no study pressure on the boy," said principal Sunirmal Chakraborty.

Police say this wasn't the first time Riju went missing. He ran away from home last year and was traced to a place in North 24-Parganas.

Riju got admitted to La Martiniere this year after finishing his Class X from Don Bosco School, Park Circus. He spent his spare time writing poems and playing the guitar. He was known to be an introvert. Police suspect he was suffering from depression. "Prima facie, it is a case of suicide," said joint CP (crime) Damayanti Sen. The family refuses to accept this. "My son wanted to become a bureaucrat. And he worked hard for that. All that is gone now," said Basak, who runs a catering business and also trades in precious stones.