Illegal coracle ride on lake turns fatal for techie

An illegal coracle ride on a highly guarded lake turned fatal for a software engineer as he allegedly drowned late on Friday night, police said. His body has not yet been fished out.

Police identified the deceased as Sachin Machaiah, an Electronics City resident who worked at a company in Manyata Tech Park. He was a native of Virajpet, Kodagu.

The circumstances surrounding Machaiah’s entry into Kalkere Lake near Ramamurthy Nagar in eastern Bengaluru and his subsequent drowning are unclear.

Machaiah is believed to have taken the coracle ride with a colleague named Ullas Shamraj who lives near the lake. The men attended a party near Kodigehalli Gate before heading towards the lake on Shamraj’s two-wheeler.

They are believed to have entered the lake around 2.30 am. They dipped the oars in the water and started pulling. But the oars slipped from their hands when they were almost in the middle of the lake. They tried rowing the coracle with bare hands but the boat eventually capsized.

Machaiah, who didn’t know swimming, drowned but Shamraj managed to swim to the tank bund and call the emergency services department. Rajesh Dindi, a guard at the lake, told reporters that he was not aware when and how the two men entered the waterbody premises. According to him, he was doing the night shift and had gone to the opposite bank of the lake around midnight before returning to the main entrance. He suspects the duo trespassed on the lake through the backside entrance and picked up the coracle that’s usually used for cleaning the lake.

Dindi said he learnt about the incident only after rescue workers reached the lake around 3 am. Soon after, he found out that Shamraj had swum out and was crying for help.

Dindi further said that when he asked Ullas what happened, the latter said he and Sachin had come for a weekend outing and that the drowning was an accident. Local residents confirmed that swimming and all other activities except walking were banned on the lake premises. A security guard watches the place round the clock.

A search for the body began early on Saturday morning but was called off later in the evening and may resume on Sunday.

An officer from the Ramamurthy Nagar police station said a case had been opened and further investigations were underway. Machaiah and Shamraj were close friends and would often hang out. They had even gone for family outings. Since Shamraj lives close to the lake, he knew all the ways to enter the premises. “We have taken his statement,” the officer added.