CHENNAI: Senior journalist C P Pradeep Kumar, who was with the sports desk of evening daily, News Today, died after allegedly falling into Adyar River on Monday night. His body was recovered late on Tuesday.
Pradeep Kumar (58) had nearly three decades of experience in the field, during which he worked in The New Indian Express, Times of India and The Statesman among other leading publications.
“The locals saw a man falling into the river near Kasi Theatre. He waved his hand signalling them to rescue him, following which two men jumped into the river. But they could not save him,” Kumaran Nagar SI S Dinesh Kumar said.
Following this, the fire and rescue services station at Ashok Nagar was alerted and the personnel searched for him from 8 pm till 10.30 pm but in vain. On Tuesday evening, his body surfaced 1.5 km from the spot where he fell.
Police personnel from Kumaran Nagar station recovered the body and identified it from the journalist’s office ID card. The body was sent to Government Royapettah Hospital.
Those who have worked with him remember Pradeep as a soft-spoken man who always encouraged youngsters by giving them tip-offs, alerts and even passing contacts who would help chase a story. Even when the tip-offs led to news breaks, exclusives and exposes, Pradeep preferred to stay in the background and join others in congratulating the reporter, never claiming credit for it.
He was 58, but that meant little; his colleagues remember how he was an active part of the cricket match they had played on Monday.
A case of death under suspicious circumstances has been registered on the basis of a complaint.
Pradeep Kumar is survived by wife, Smitha, who is a government employee in Puducherry, and a daughter and son.