Dub Pukur — the haunted pond of Haldia where spirits pull people underwater

Dub Pukur in Haldia, West Bengal, is a pond surrounded by modern buildings that still instills fear among locals despite decades of urban development. The pond, which was once isolated in agricultural land, has been associated with drownings and supernatural activity for generations. Local folklore holds that spirits inhabiting the pond — possibly the ghosts of those who drowned there — pull unsuspecting victims underwater. People who walk near the pond at night report hearing voices calling their name from the water, seeing lights beneath the surface, and experiencing a powerful compulsion to enter the water. Some describe the sensation of hands gripping their ankles when they stand at the pond's edge. The sounds of splashing and screaming have been reported from the pond when no one is swimming. In Bengali Hindu folk tradition, ponds and tanks (pukur) are frequently associated with water spirits, and disturbing these spirits — through pollution, construction, or neglect of traditional rituals — can provoke dangerous supernatural activity. Dub Pukur's persistence as a source of fear despite the modern buildings that now surround it demonstrates the enduring power of water-based hauntings in Bengali culture.