Villagers and parents of victims peeved as cops refuse to allow locals to help in search operation
Villagers and parents of victims peeved as cops refuse to allow locals to help in search operation
A fun outing by a group of 11 youngsters took a tragic turn resulting in the deaths of four and a rescue drama by the police that turned ugly. The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon when Shartah, Harsha, Shreyas, Harish, Jagan, Manoj, Punith, Yashashwini, Soumya, Bhagya and Bhavya went to a temple in Bidadi village, which is situated near Nelliguda lake.
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Futile: The cops and fire personnel, despite using every possible
approach, were unable to locate the bodies. Pic/Ramesh HS
Drank, drowned
According to students who witnessed the tragedy, some boys from the group consumed alcohol and decided to play in the water, while the girls remained on the banks of the lake. Manoj and Punith unwittingly ventured into deep water and as they did not know how to swim, began to call for help. Jagan and Yashashwini attempted to rescue them but were overwhelmed and soon drowned. Some time later, local shepherds passing by attempted to rescue the victims, but only succeeded in recovering the bodies of Manoj and Yashashwini.
Search continues...
As news spread, hundreds of villagers and the parents of the victims who had been alerted about the incident waited anxiously near the lake while the police combed the lake for the bodies of Punith and Jagan, which lasted the entire night.
The police however, despite using every possible approach, were unable to locate the bodies and this further enraged the mob. Yesterday evening, local divers were prepared to help out. However, the police refused to allow that, which irked the locals.
Futility in finding the victims also raised questions to whether the bodies were actually in the lake or whether foul play was involved. Locals insisted that the lake is no stranger to drowning incidents and that it has never taken this long to recover bodies of victims.
Dr Raj Prakash, an uncle of Jagan said, "If anybody from a rich family was a victim, then the police would have done more than what they are doing now. I'm fed up" Senior PI G P Vijay Kumar, who was present at spot said, "We are trying to locate the bodies, but don't know the exact place where they drowned. The lake is deep, which makes it more difficult."
When MiD DAY enquired about the delay in locating the bodies of the two missing youth, Kumar said, "We are doing our duty using what we have in way of rescue infrastructure. If we allow locals to get involved in the operation and if anything goes wrong, we will be held responsible.
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We are not willing to take that risk." The police detained seven students from the group for further questioning.
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