Mounesh Vishwakarma
Pics: Kishore Peraje
Daijiworld Media Network – Bantwal (EP)
Updated
Bantwal, Nov 7: In a tragic incident, five teenage boys were washed away when they went to swim in Phalguni river at Mallarapatna here. The incident came to light on Tuesday November 7.
The bodies of four boys have been found. Search for the fifth boy is in progress.
The deceased have been identified as Mohammed Sawad (17), son of Mohammed, a resident of Mallarapatna Shuntihitlu, Ajmal (18), son of Hamza, Mubashir alias Mudassir (17), son of Sharif, and Ramiz (17), son of Sharif and Aslam (17).
Mudassir was pursuing his religious studies. Another boy was working in a bakery. As the boys had holiday on Monday owing to Kanaka Jayanti, all of them had played together in the local playground and later gone to Phalguni river to swim. Some people who were mining sand nearby warned the boys against getting into the water, but the boys ignored the warnings and got down to the river through Hiridel fort.
When the boys did not return home and repeated calls by family members went unanswered, the distressed families began a search for the boys and finally found their clothes, mobiles and watches on the river bank, and suspected that the boys had drowned.
When the search was intensified, Sawad's body was under the bridge on Tuesday morning. After that Bantwal fire service staff and rural police were informed who rushed at the spot.
They continued the search with the help of expert divers and locals for the remaining boys. Bodies of Ajmal, Ramiz and Aslam were found together among the shrubs. Mudassir is yet to be traced and search operations are in progress.
It is feared that one of them fell into the water and all of them drowned while trying to rescue each other. The level was high as water was released from Puchemogeru dam at night.
Hundreds of people gathered at the spot after the incident. A pall of gloom has descended on Arala, Mullarapatna and Shuntihitlu.
A youth had fallen into the water and died four years ago here while trying to cross the river. A sand mining worker while trying to run away during police raid had also fallen and died here. The five boys died at the same spot.
The post-mortem was conducted at Bantwal community centre.
SP Sudheer Kumar Reddy, Bantwal ASP Dr Arun, inspector Prakash, Bantwal rural police SI and staff visited the spot and conducted investigations.
A case has been registered in Bantwal rural police station.
Mangaluru assistant commissioner Renuka Prasad, Bantwal tahsildar Purandara Hedge, taluk panchayat president Chandrahas Karkera, Vice president Abbas Ali, state pollution control board director Pius L Rodrigues, Zilla panchayat member Chandrashekar Tumbe, Tungappa Bangera, local representatives and officials arrived and conducted investigations.
BJP leader Rajesh Naik Ulipadiguthu visited the houses of the boys and consoled the families. Naushad Haji, Abdul Razak, Devappa Poojary, Nagesh Manai, Umesh Arala, Ranja Shetty Arala were present.
District in-charge minister B Ramanath Rai telephoned officials from Bengaluru and asked them to take up suitable measures.