THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : A 22-year-old Tamil Nadu native went missing in a temple pond at Varkala after he and his two friends got down into the pond for a bath on Saturday evening. The missing youth has been identified as Bharathi, a native of Tirunelveli. The fire and rescue team rushed to the spot, and the search operations are in progress. The Varkala police have registered a case in connection with the incident.
According to the police, the incident took place around 7 pm when a 25-member team from Chennai reached the Varkala Janardhana Swamy temple after visiting the beach. After visiting the temple, three members of the team, including Bharathi, got down into the pond for a bath. Bharathi went missing after he got trapped in the mud accumulated in the bottom of the pond. Soon, others alerted the temple authorities, and they informed the police and the fire force.
“The search operations are in progress. The pond is large, and hence rescue operations are difficult. However, we expect to find him tonight. The team got down into the pond despite the restrictions imposed by the temple authorities,” said Praveen J S, Varkala inspector of police.