Pune: In a heart-wrenching incident caused by family tensions, the bodies of Chirag Chandrashekhar Shelke (28) and his wife, Prof. Pallavi (24), were recovered from the Dimbe Left Canal in Warulwadi, Junnar. The Narayangaon police, aided by local youths, successfully located the deceased, leaving the community of Warulwadi in deep sorrow.

Chirag Shelke was a mathematics teacher at an English medium school in Narayangaon, where he worked for three years. Known for his creativity, he was a playwright and poet, with his school play earning first place in a district-level competition. His colleagues remembered him as a sensitive and disciplined individual. Pallavi, his wife, worked as a lecturer at a prestigious college in Pune. The couple had been married for just one year and lived in the Abhang neighborhood of Warulwadi with Chirag’s mother.

Sequence of Events:

On the evening of Jan 1, Chirag and Pallavi were seen riding their motorcycle to the Dimbe Left Canal bridge on the Warulwadi-Thakarwadi road. Eyewitnesses reported that the couple engaged in a verbal dispute before both jumped into the canal. The canal's strong current quickly carried them away.

Local authorities, including sarpanch Rajendra Meher and police patil Sushant Bhujbal, immediately informed Narayangaon Police Station. The police, led by Assistant Police Inspector Mahadev Shelar, began a search operation. Chirag’s body was located that night, but Pallavi’s recovery had to be postponed due to low visibility.

On Jan 2, the Kukadi Irrigation Department, under Executive Engineer Prashant Kaduskar, reduced the water flow in the canal. Pallavi’s body was retrieved around 9:00 AM. Medical examinations at the Narayangaon Rural Hospital confirmed drowning as the cause of death. The couple’s final rites were conducted at the Vaikunth crematorium at 4:00 PM in a sorrowful atmosphere.