Army personnel start search for Abhishek Prakash’s body
Pics by KPN, Bangalore
Bangalore, Jun 10: Personnel of the Madras Engineer Group (MEG) and Centre on Tuesday started the search for the body of Abhishek Prakash, who was washed away in a drain in Lingarajapuram on May 31.
On Tuesday, the area around the raja kaluve at Hennur Bande in Hennur, where the body of Abhishek is suspected to have got stuck in the weeds and debris, looked like an Army camp with around 60 personnel of MEG and Centre and 50 gangmen from the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) having started a four-day joint operation.
Nearly 15 tonnes of weeds and debris from the lake have been removed.
Starting their operations around 6 a.m., the MEG and Centre personnel used small boats to de-weed the lake. The search will continue for the next three days, as the personnel will search for the body in all connecting drains and pits at the lake.
Alleged
Meanwhile, a few personnel of MEG and Centre alleged that they were made to wait for three hours to get earthmovers to start operations.
“We camped at the venue on Monday night itself and had requested the BBMP officials to provide two earthmovers for de-weeding. But the BBMP men and earthmovers arrived at least three hours after we began our operation,” an officer of MEG and Centre, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Hindu.
However, BBMP Executive Engineer Balappa Reddy said: “BBMP deployed men and material by 9 a.m. The MEG and Centre officials have been camping at the premises of the lake and hence they started their works at 6 a.m. We arranged two earthmovers by 9 a.m.”
BBMP Commissioner S. Subramanya, who visited the area, said: “BBMP has provided manpower and earthmovers. The operation will be continued for the next three or four days. Future course of action will be decided later.”
Sarvagnanagar MLA K.J. George said: “I held a meeting with the Union Defence Minister in New Delhi on Monday and requested him to deploy Army men to search for the body of the missing boy.”