Two engineering students found dead in Lonavla

Pune: Two students of an engineering college were found dead at a forest area in Lonavla hill station of the district, police said today. The deceased, a 22-year-old boy and a girl aged 21, were allegedly stripped and hit on the back of their heads with a blunt object. There were injuries on their other body parts also, they said. The girl's hands were tied at the back and she was gagged, an officer at Lonavla city police station said.

"A local resident, who spotted the bodies yesterday in the forest area located near INS Shivaji Naval station here, alerted the police," he said. The police rushed to the spot and sent the bodies for postmortem, he said. "Both the deceased were students of a third year engineering course at a college in Lonavla. The girl hailed from Otur in Pune district. The boy hailed from Rahuri in Ahmednagar," the officer said.

The girl used to stay in the college hostel, while the boy lived at a private accommodation in Lonavla, which is located about 100 km from the Pune district headquarters. Both of them were friends and had gone out together on Sunday, the police officer said. A murder case has been registered, he said. "We are investigating the case from all angles and waiting for the postmortem report," the officer said. A probe is on into the case, he said adding that the police would talk to the family members of both the deceased.