Two priests from the city drowned in Sarayu river at Ayodhya on Wednesday morning. The victims, O. Chakrapani (21) and P. Kiran (24), had gone to attend a religious event along with 19 others.
According to the family members of Chakrapani, the group left for Ayodhya to participate in the six-day ‘Sundara Kandam Parayanam’ scheduled to start from Wednesday. On Wednesday, a few of his friends accompanying the duo informed their families about the incident. It is not clear as to why the two persons entered the river. According to the members of the group, the two went along with a friend to take photographs and entered into the deep water and drowned while the family members claim that they went to take a bath before heading to participate in the religious rituals.
Chakarapani and Kiran both studied at Sri Wargal Vidya Saraswati institution at Medak and completed their course a few years ago. They used to regularly participate in religious events and conduct pujas in the city. The group left for Ayodhya along with Viswanatha Sharma, a head priest from Alwal.
Meanwhile, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao asked the Uttar Pradesh government to provide necessary help to trace the victims. The local authorities launched a search operation to trace them.