CHENNAI: The body of a 16-year-old hockey player who went missing from Marina beach on Saturday evening, was washed ashore on Sunday.
Police said S Prajeesh, a Class XI student of Arignar Anna Government Higher Secondary school at Coonoor, had come with 14 other boys, to participate in the under-19 hockey tournament at Nehru stadium.
After playing a match on Saturday, he and 10 other students are said to have gone to Marina beach without informing their seniors. After their phone numbers remained not reachable, the seniors launched a search.
When they met them at the beach, the boys allegedly told the seniors that Prajeesh was missing. They informed police and combed the entire beach, but in vain.
His parents Sasikumar and Preeja rushed to Chennai.
Prajeesh’s body was washed ashore on Sunday afternoon. Manoj Kumar, who accompanied the players to the tournament, said Prajeesh seemed to have returned to the shore after playing in the water for a while.
“But when others got ready to leave, they found him missing. The boy had even informed his parents that he was going to the beach, but he did not tell us,” he said.
Marina police sent the body to Omandurar multi-speciality hospital for postmortem. Police said it was a clear case of drowning. Investigation is on.