Bangalore: Four youths drown in Bidadi lake

DHNS

Bangalore, 03 March 2011: Three boys and a girl drowned while swimming in Nelligudde lake near Bidadi in the adjoining Ramanagara district on Wednesday, while six others who also took a dip, managed to escape from the swirling waters.

 

The police said that a group of 11, including four boys and seven girls, left for Bidadi to visit a temple and unwind there. After visiting the temple, the group reached the lake and relaxed on its banks before the boys entered the water for a swim.

 

Soon the others joined in. Some of the boys and girls managed to swim to the middle of the lake when one of them started drowning. The police said three from the group swam frantically to rescue the boy, but they too drowned.

 

“They could not swim because the lake was deep at that point, which was the result of dredging a few years ago,” a police officer said.

 

Shivaratri holiday

 

Narrating the tragic incident, eyewitness Sharath, an SSLC student at St Joseph School, said: “We wanted to spend the Shivaratri holiday. So, the girls took the train and the boys took a bus to reach Bidadi. After a darshan of Anjaneya Swamy, we reached the lake by autorickshaws.”

 

Sharath said that Manoj, who was the oldest in the group, consumed liquor before entering the lake. Tragedy struck minutes later,” he said.

 

Claiming that the survivors tried to escape from the spot after their friends drowned, the police said the boys and girls had lied to their families about their visit to the temple.

 

“They instead went to the lake and then the drowning led them to flee,” a police source said, adding that autopsies on the bodies will reveal whether they had consumed alcohol.

 

A majority in the group was pursuing SSLC and PUC, but three of the girls worked at Tele Call Seva Centre.

 

Another tragedy

 

The Shivaratri festive mood plunged into grief for a couple when their one-year-old kid drowned in a bucket containing water at Sangabasavana Doddi village in Bidadi taluk.

 

Chandan, the son of Lokesh and Shwetha, fell into the bucket head down, while he was playing on Wednesday afternoon.

The incident came to light some time later when the parents started searching for the boy. They were shocked to see him inside the bucket, but it was too late.