BENGALURU: Three boys, including two brothers, drowned in Amruthahalli Lake near Byatarayanapura on International Airport Road on Sunday. Rejuvenation work had been under way at the lake for the past few months. Police said the boys got stuck in thick silt at the lake bed though the water is shallow.
The deceased are Naveen (12) and his brother Ravi (11), both sons of Nagesh, a mason. The other deceased was their neighbour Adithya (15), son of Madava Raj, a driver. The boys were residents of Amruthanagar and were studying in Sharada Vidyalaya, which is located near the lake.
Police said the incident occurred around 12.30pm when the boys came to the lake for a swim. They did not inform their parents that they were going there, police said. Ganapathi, an eyewitness, said he saw a group of five boys near the lake. “When I scolded them, two boys ran away, but three stayed back. They must have gotten into the lake after I left,” he said.
Locals alerted Amruthahalli police who rescued Naveen and Ravi. Ravi was still breathing. An ambulance which was deployed at a sports rally nearby, was called and the boys were rushed to a hospital, where they were declared brought dead.
The bodies of the two boys were found within a few minutes but it took two hours to fish out Aditya’s body.
Police said an excavator operator, who was at the spot, gave the police wrong information during the search operation. The man told the police that he saw one boy run from the spot after the two boys had drowned. Adithya’s body was found only after his relatives got into the lake to fish out his body.
Sources said that even though works were under way at the lake, there was no proper fencing around the area.
A senior police officer said, “We have filed a case of unnatural death. Rejuvenation work has been under way here for months. If we find a case of negligence, we will take action.”
The tragedy that was
12.30pm on Sunday: Five boys go for a swim to Amruthahalli Lake near Byatarayanapura
A passerby sees the kids and asks them to leave immediately
Two of the boys run away while three get into the water after the passerby leaves
When the boys try to get out of water, they get stuck in the silt and drown
Locals alert the police, who fish out
Naveen (12) and Ravi (11)
The third victim, Adithya’s (15) body is fished out after two hours
Rejuvenation work had been under way at the lake for the past few months
Ravi wanted a bicycle
Bhagya, Ravi’s neighbour, said the boy who was
studying in Standard VI, had been asking his father to buy
him a bicycle as he wanted to learn how to ride it during his summer vacation. But since school had reopened, he was asked to wait for a few more days for the cycle, she recalled.
