BHOPAL: An early morning killer road mishap claimed the lives of two talented Indian Navy kayakers, including the Asia Cup gold medallist Vishnu Raghunathan in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal. Both the kayakers hailed from Kerala.
The mishap happened in Bhopal’s Parwalia area on Sunday morning, when the duo identified as chief petty officer and 2024 Asia Cup gold medallist Vishnu Raghunathan (27) and petty officer Ananth Krishnan (18), were riding a motorcycle to Bhopal’s Boat Club for being part of an ongoing training camp.
The duo was in Bhopal for the training camp of their naval unit and 18-year-old Ananth Krishnan had joined the Navy recently.
According to local police sources, the accident happened when the speeding vehicle (possibly a truck) rammed into the motorcycle on the main road near Raksha Vihar Colony.
Among the two naval kayakers, Vishnu Raghunathan was a national kayaking champion, who had won the gold medal in the 1000 m K-2 class at the 2024 Asia Cup in Hong Kong. He was counted among the brightest kayaking prospects for the country.
The two critically injured kayakers were rushed to the hospital where Vishnu died just after admission, while Ananth succumbed to injuries during treatment some hours later.
The forensic teams of the local police, have found blood stains at the accident spot and seized two helmets and a broken pole from there. The motorcycle used by the two kayakers was badly mangled.
Primary investigations suggest that the two kayakers were dragged up to around 20-25 meters by the killer heavy vehicle.
After lodging a case in the matter, the local police are examining the CCTV grabs from the cameras installed near the Defence Colony, to trace the heavy vehicle and the driver.
Shocked by the two deaths, all kayaking-canoeing clubs across MP cancelled their practice sessions on Monday.