Daijiworld Media Network - Beltangady (SP)
Beltangady, Dec 7: In an incident which occurred in Holegandi rivulet near Lord Parashurama temple near Kokkada in the taluk, a young engineering student, who was swimming in a rivulet, went missing. It is believed that he has drowned. Search operations conducted so far could not trace the student.
Ajay (19), a first year student of SDM Engineering College at Ujire, was the son of Laxminarayana Bhat, residing near Parpikal in Hatyadka village. He had gone to Holegandi rivulet along with friends, Vrikshavardhan, Annesh and Chandan Khare for a swim at about 1 pm on Sunday. Out of the four, Ajay alone was good at swimming, while the others were still learning how to swim, it is gathered.
When the four were having fun in the rivulet, Ajay suddenly started shouting for help. Although Vrikshavardhan rushed to his help and tried to rescue him, it is said that Ajay slipped out of his hands and drowned. The friends then searched for their friend at the spot where he had drowned, but failed to find him. They rushed to the temple and told some persons present there about the incident. The people present there called some more people and conducted elaborate search in the rivulet, but the youth remained untraceable.
Ajay, a soft-natured boy with impeccable manners, was the only son of Laxminarayana Bhat, who bought land and settled down at Parpikal about two years back. He is survived by parents and an elder sister.
The fire brigade personnel, who came to the spot thereafter, went back, telling the people that they did not have expert divers for the task. People expressed resentment at the callous attitude of the fire brigade. Teams of expert divers then came from Nelyady and Golithottu and searched for the missing student. After their efforts failed, they also created a raft of banana stems and went inside the water using it, but again tasted failure in their efforts.
As it was late, the search operation was suspended for the day and will resume on Monday again. Many students of Ujire college also took part in the search. A huge crowd had gathered at the spot. Uppinangady police sub-inspector, Timmappa Naik and personnel of Nelyady police outpost took part in the operation.