A 19-year-old boy went missing in ‘Varaha Theertham’, the historic pond situated between the Sreevaraham Laksmi Varaha temple and the Kunnandan Mahaganapathy temple, at Sreevaraham in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
According to the Fort police and local residents, Akhil Ghosh, along with his friends Binu Pereira and Joe, all aged 19 and hailing from Valiyathura, had reached the spot around 6 p.m.
While Joe sat on the banks, Akhil and Binu are said to have begun swimming from the west side of the pond, which is said to be one of the biggest temple ponds in the State, spanning nearly six acres.
Missing
A little later, Binu turned back to find Akhil missing. The fear-struck boy then made it to the ‘kalmandapam’ in the middle of the pond and raised an alarm.
Residents came to Binu’s rescue and though he was brought ashore, search and rescue divers from the Fire & Rescue force and police, along with local residents, were continuing efforts even after 11.30 p.m. to trace Akhil.
The pond, where boat races are conducted annually, is said to be over 12 feet deep and was recently cleaned after several decades with help from the city corporation.
