A 21-year-old college student drowned after slipping from a rock near a waterfall 2 km from Nandi Hills in Chickballapur on Tuesday. The deceased, Naveen Subbaiah, was a final-year B.Com student in a college in Doddaballapur.
According to the police, Naveen, along with four friends, had gone for a picnic to Skandagiri falls on the Channarayaswamy hills, around 50 km from the city. They ventured into the forest 2 km from the main road. Owing to the recent rains, the spot they visited had a newly formed brook. As the rocks were covered with moss, they were slippery. Naveen slipped and fell into the brook. He sustained injuries. He could not swim to safety because of his injuries and drowned, a senior police officer said.
His friends told the police that they jumped into the stream and brought Naveen out of the water. They carried him for 2 km through the forest to the road from where an ambulance took him to a hospital in Doddaballapur. The 21-year-old was unconscious by then and died on the way to the hospital.
The Doddaballapur police were informed. The jurisdictional Nandi Hills police visited the spot and informed the victim’s parents. A case of unnatural death has been registered.
“Naveen’s friends say they were taking pictures on their phones when he slipped and fell. We are waiting for the autopsy report,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, the body of Nandish A., who was swept away in a canal in Ramanagaram district, was found on Tuesday. The 38-year-old farmer, a resident of Aralimara Doddi, was trying to record a video of the canal when the incident took place.
