Sunday picnic turns tragic for families

The deceased have been identified as Lakshman Rao (45), his son Prajwal (12), nephew Kiran (14) of Mysore,  Shekar (45) of Nanjangud and Raju (18) of Bangalore.

A BEML employee, Lakshman Rao was a resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar here. As it was a holiday, the family decided to go on a picnic to Talkad. Lakshman along with his wife Suma, son Prajwal, his sister Varalakshmi, nephew Sunil and grandson Tarun, relatives Tejaswini and Yasmitha, left for the tourist spot in his car. They stopped at the house of Srinivas Rao Bedre, a tailor and brother of Lakshman at EWS Colony in Kuvempunagar. They picked Bedre’s son Kiran Kumar along with them.

However, they changed their plans and went to Somanathapura, before stopping at  T Narsipura. They decided to visit Agasthyeshwara Swamy Temple at the place. They went for a holy dip in the confluence of rivers Cauvery, Kapila and Spatika. It was at that time, Prajwal and Kiran Kumar got stuck in the pit inside. The two cried for help, forcing Lakshman to rush for their aid.

However, the fate had willed otherwise. All the three were washed away.

Prajwal, was studying in sixth standard at JSS Public School in SJCE campus. Kiran Kumar, a student of Jnanaganga Vidyapeetha, had passed out securing 70 pc in the recently announced results of seventh standard. Kiran’s mother Lakshmi, elder sisters Pooja and Vidya were dumbstruck.

In another incident, Shekar (45) of Singaripura in Nanjangud taluk, drowned after a fatal slip in river Cauvery at T Narsipura on Sunday. He was allegedly in an inebriated condition at that time. Both the cases have been registered by T Narsipura Police.

In yet another case, Raju (18) son of Rajendra of R T Nagar in Bangalore, drowned in river cauvery at Chunchanakatte in K R Nagar taluk in the district on Sunday.