Bihar state volleyball player, father drowned while fishing

Bihar state volleyball player, father drowned while fishing
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

RANCHI, SEPT 25: Bodies of a woman volleyball player and her father were found floating in Swarnarekha river here yesterday.

Autopsy reports attributed the death of the player -- Karuna Kanti Kujjur (22) -- and her father, Barnawas Kujjur (55), of Lohadih locality in Ranchi town to drowning, the police said.

Karuna, an undergraduate student of the Marwari college here, representedthe Bihar's women's volleyball team in 1998-99. Her father, Kujjur, owner of two acres of land, was an employee of the Bihar government-run High Tension Insulator Factory which was closed down in 1992. Bereft of any source of income, Kujjur tilled his land and used to fish in the Swarnarekha. He and his eldest daughter went to the river with the fishing net on Saturday night. When they did not return the next morning, the family went to look for them.

Says Karuna's sister Aparna Kujjur, ``A couple of hours later, we weretold that their bodies were spotted two km away near Garihotwarvillage.''

The All Jharkhand Students' Union (AJSU) has condemned the incident. AJSU coordinator Kamal Kishore Bhagat, a resident of Lohadih, has blamed the government for the incident. Had the factory not been shut down, Karuna and his father would not have had to fish for a living, he says.

A dozen AJSU activists led by Bhagat put up a road blockade near Lohadihdemanding a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and a government job a family member.

Kujjur is survived by his wife, Shanti Kujjur, 50, and six children.