BENGALURU: A coracle ride by two techies after a late-night party ended in tragedy when one of them drowned in the lake. The two former colleagues — Sachin Machiah and Ullas Shamraj — reportedly met for a birthday party on Friday night. The duo then headed towards Kalkere lake for a stroll when they decided to go on a coracle ride by themselves. A senior police officer said the deceased Sachin (30) was a resident of Electronics City and worked in a private firm at Manyata Tech Park.
He hailed from Virajpet in Kodagu. His former colleague Ullas lives in R T Nagar. A search operation was taken up early on Saturday to retrieve the body, but it could not be traced till evening. The search will resume on Sunday. Around 2.30 am, the duo got into an unattended coracle at the lake and, when they were in the middle, the paddles slipped from the hands of one of them.
They then tried to steer the coracle using their hands when it overturned. As Sachin did not know how to swim, he drowned. Ullas managed to swim to the lake shore and called the Fire and Emergency Services personnel, police said. The families of Sachin and Ullas refused any comment as they were in deep shock. Police said they have been trying to contact Ullas to record his statement, but his phone is switched off.
Whatever information was gathered was through one of Ullas’s relative whom he had contacted after swimming to the shore, they said. Lake security guard Rajesh Dindi, who was on night duty, said that he went on his rounds around 12 am and returned to the main entrance. He suspected that the duo may have trespassed through the rear entrance and taken the coracle which is used to clean the lake.
Rajesh said he came to know about the incident only when fire personnel reached the spot at 3am. He also noticed Ullas crying for help after swimming out. “When I asked Ullas, he said that they had come for a weekend outing.
However, he fled the scene soon after police arrived”, Rajesh added.Ramamurthy Nagar police are investigating the case. Local residents say that swimming or any other activity, except walking, is banned in the lake area. A security guard is posted round the clock.