Nagpur: Two third-year students of Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU) died after their motorcycle plunged into an 85-foot-deep gorge along Waranga Toli road near Butibori late Wednesday night, in a tragedy that came to light only the next morning. One of the deceased Saksham Bansod (21) was son of a senior district judge in Wardha, while the other Aryan Sontakke (21) was son of a lawyer.Saksham and Aryan were riding a motorcycle (MH-49-CR-1457) when the accident occurred on a poorly lit stretch close to the MNLU campus. The stretch, located near a T-point behind Kavi Kulguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, is often used by MNLU staff and students as a shortcut.Saksham was a resident of Manish Nagar-Besa in Nagpur, and Aryan was from Yavatmal.According to police, the two had gone out for dinner on Wednesday evening and reached a hotel in Dongargaon. They left the hotel around 10.50pm and were heading towards Butibori when Sontakke, who was riding the motorcycle, reportedly lost control near T-point behind the sanskrit university. The vehicle veered off the road and fell into a deep gorge, leading to fatal injuries. Both died on the spot.The incident remained undetected for hours. Sontakke had forgot his mobile phone at the hotel, which was noticed by the manager past midnight. Attempts were made to trace the students by contacting numbers stored in the device. The information reached hostel authorities, prompting a search operation by friends and wardens that continued until around 4am, but yielded no results.It was only at around 7am on Thursday that a passerby spotted two bodies in the gorge and alerted Butibori police. A team rushed to the spot, conducted panchnama and identified the victims through identity cards. The bodies were sent for postmortem examination in AIIMS, and a case of accidental death has been registered.MNLU registrar Deepak Bhagwat confirmed the deaths, stating that both students “died in an accident”, declining further comments. Vice-chancellor Vijender Kumar told TOI that the motorcycle “fell in deep gorge at a T-point near our college’s back side”, adding illumination is available only up to a certain point, beyond which the stretch remains in complete darkness.“The college was closed on Thursday to offer condolences for the passing of our two students. We will be extending all help to their families,” the VC said.Students described the route as a risky shortcut often used despite the dangers due to poor visibility. “The students could not have seen the gorge in the darkness,” a fellow student said, pointing to the absence of adequate lighting and warning signage.
