What was to be a picnic turned into a tragedy for a group of 21 people from Bangalore, when four of them drowned in the Cauvery at Bommasandra, near Mekedatu, on Sunday.
The group of relatives had gone to enjoy a weekend.
Anupam Agarwal, Superintendent of Police (Ramanagaram), identified the dead as Balaji Singh (51), Raghunandan Singh (24), Raj Singh (32) and Sandeep Singh (32).
Search launched
All the four were washed away in the river, and the police have launched an operation to retrieve the bodies.
The victims were residents of Yeshwantpur in Bangalore.
According to the police, many of them, after having lunch by the river, went for a swim.
The tragedy occurred soon after one of the victims, who did not know swimming, began to drown and raised an alarm. “Upon hearing his cries, others rushed to his rescue, and four were drowned,” Mr. Agarwal told The Hindu .
A search, with the help of local swimmers and fishermen, was still on, an officer attached to the Sathanur police station, said.
The bank of the river takes a sudden dip a few metres into the waters, where the men drowned. Also, the water-level in the river was high because of heavy rain in recent days.
Risky swim
“The newcomers are not likely to know about the risks of venturing into the Cauvery at Bommasandra,” the officer said.
