AP: Ragging led to student’s death?

VISAKHAPATNAM: Police have got no clue yet on the cause of the death of K Lazaron Victor Raj (18), a firstyear student of B.Tech at the Avanthi Institute Of Engineering and Technology at Makavarapalem in the district.

Raj drowned in PVJR Swimming Pool at Anakapalle on Saturday. He was in the pool along with 14 second- year students of the same college who had bunked classes and gone there to enjoy themselves.

His relatives lodged a complaint with the Anakapalle police station that the senior students had killed Raj in the name of ragging as no other first-year student had gone on the picnic with them.

Police said all 15 students, including Raj, did not inform the management of the college or their parents about the picnic. And, none of the students knew swimming.

Raj drowned in the pool which was about 12 feet deep.

Ironically, other students did not notice that Raj drowned.

Some locals, who had gone to the pool, fished out the body and shifted it to a government hospital at Anakapalle where Raj was declared ‘brought dead’.

Speaking to Express, college principal C Mohan Rao said some second- year students of the college were classmates of Lazaron Victor Raj in Intermediate at Sri Chaitanya College in Visakhapatnam.

Raj had failed Intermediate in 2010 and cleared the examination in 2011, he said.

But Raj’s uncle, PJ Manohar, said none of the secondyear students was a friend of Raj and accused the Avanthi College management of misleading the police. Raj was a resident of Marripalem. His father K Dyvavaram is a Church Pastor and mother K Aparanji a housewife.