Four youths working in Bangalore drowned in the backwaters of Manchanabele reservoir near Tavarekere, about 40 km from Bangalore, on Monday evening, when their coracle capsized.
The deceased are Ashok Kumar (21), Raghunandan (20), Mohana (21), all residents of Srinagar, and Charanraj (21), a resident of Hegganahalli.
All of them originally hailed from Araganahalli village in Nagamangala of Mandya district, according to police.
The youths had come in an autorickshaw, police said.
After swimming for a while, they wanted to reach a mantap in the middle of the backwaters near Avverahalli, a submerged village about 5 km from Manchanabele.
Dinesh, the lone survivor, explained that all of them wanted to enjoy the festival holiday.
“We came here at 2.30 pm. We swam till evening. Ashok, Raghu and others decided to reach the mantap in the middle of the reservoir and get a kick from diving from it. I got scared and told them I would take bath and went to get shampoo from the autorickshaw,” Dinesh explained.
Police were able to fish out the bodies only on Tuesday morning.
Police said the four took the coracle which was on the shore and started going towards the mantap in the reservoir.
When they reached within half a metre of the mantap, they tried to spin the coracle with an oar. In the process, all of them came to one side and the coracle toppled.
None of them could swim as the water is treacherous, Tavarekere police said.
Two of the deceased were autorickshaw drivers and the other two worked in a solar power company. Further investigations are on.