Two teenagers drown in Palace Grounds pond

Two teenagers who went for a swim in a pond at the Palace Grounds drowned on Sunday afternoon.

The deceased have been identified as Ramesh, 17 and Maniratnam, 14, both residents of Seshadripuram. Maniratnam was a class IX student in Bharat Seva Dal School on Kumarakrupa Road. The bodies of the two teenagers are yet to be traced.

According to police, Ramesh and Maniratnam went for a swim in the pond along with five other friends on Sunday noon. While the two boys met a watery grave their friends panicked and fled. They returned only in the night and reported the incident to their parents.

Ramesh’s father, Venkatappa, told Deccan Herald, that his son had left home at about 11:30 am and that he had not informed the family that he was going out for a swim.

“We were worried a lot when he did not return home even by late evening. We were only told about what had happened later that night when we checked with his friends.”
Venkatappa said he immediately alerted the police and rushed to the pond. However, rescue operations  could not be taken up due to darkness.

The High Grounds police, in co-ordination with a specialised rescue team from the Fire and Emergency Services finally launched a search operation on Monday morning, were unsuccessful till evening.

“It has been nearly 36 hours since the boys went missing,” a senior official and added that chances that the boys had survived were slim.

Hit by ambulance

A speeding ambulance mowed down an elderly woman who was grazing cattle by the side of the road on Hesaraghatta Lake Road on Monday afternoon.

The deceased has been identified as Muttamma, 70, a resident of Hesaraghatta. She was grazing cows by the roadside when she was struck by the ambulance coming from the opposite direction. Muttamma was killed on the spot, police said.

The ambulance driver abandoned the vehicle on the spot and fled. The ambulance did not have any patients when the accident occurred. Jalahalli Traffic police have registered a case.