Five youth drown in Phalguni river

Five youth drowned in River Phalguni at Aralu Moolarapattana in Bantwal taluk on Monday evening. The youth ventured into the water for a dip even after being forewarned of the danger in trying to swim at the deep end of the river.

The dead have been identified as Aslam (16), son of Ashraf of Navagrama, Mudaris (17), son of Shareef of Navagrama, Savad (17), son of G Mohammed of Shuntihithlu Kallagudde, Rameez (17), son of K Shareef of Shuntihithlu Kallagudde and Ajmal (17), son of Hakeem. Aslam, Savad and Ajmal were first PU students at Muthooru Composite PU College.As Monday was a holiday, the youth informed their families that they were attending a friend's marriage at Gurpura Kaikamba but instead went for a dip in  River Phalguni. When they did not return home even after 9 pm on Monday, the family members started making enquiries with the neighbours.

Moolarapatna Mohiyuddin Jumma Masjid Khathiba informed the families that five youth had come near the bridge to take a dip in the river at 11.30 am. He said they were sent back citing the danger of swimming in the river.

When the family members launched a search along the banks of the river, they found their clothes, footwear and mobile phones. Anxious family members filed a complaint at Bantwal Rural Police Station. The fire service personnel searched for the bodies till midnight, Gram Panchayat member Ashraf Moolarapattana said.

Expert swimmers Jabbar, Salam, Sadat and others were called in for the search operations along with the fire service personnel on Tuesday morning. The bodies of Rameez, Aslam and Ajmal were retrieved at Moolarapattna while the body of Mudaris was not retrieved till late evening of Tuesday.

As the news began to spread, a large number of people gathered near the banks of the river. Mangaluru AC Renuka Prasad, Bantwal ASP Dr Arun and others rushed to the spot.

A pall of gloom descended on Moolarapattana following the news of drowning of the five youth. The family of all the youths hail from a poor background.

BJP leaders Uliyapadiguthu Rajesh Naik, ZP members Chandraprakash Shetty, B Padmashekar Jain, M Thungappa Bangera and others visited the family members.