A pall of gloom descended over the posh MR Enclave area of Fazilka town after a youth drowned when the car he was travelling in with two companions slipped into the Gang Canal near Islamwala village on the Fazilka–Malout road on Tuesday.According to sources, the three occupants — Arsh Challana (18), Honey (19) and Anupreet Singh (22) — were returning from Malout to Fazilka after reportedly appearing in a B.Ed examination.Arsh Challana drowned in the canal.Lakhwinder Singh Sandhu, Block President of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Kadian), who reached the spot, said the car lost control and plunged into the canal, allegedly due to the absence of a side railing. He added that private divers managed to rescue two of the occupants after efforts lasting over 40 minutes.It is learnt that Arsh, who was reportedly driving the vehicle, got trapped in the steering and drowned.Fazilka SSP Gurmeet Singh, who also reached the site, said that local divers, including Seo Singh, Joginder Singh and Gurwinder Singh, jumped into the canal and rescued the two survivors from deep water.