GUNTUR: Festivities turned tragic for the families of five students, who drowned in river Krishna and other streams in Guntur district, in separate incidents on Sunday. According to sub-inspector of police G Rajeswara Rao, seven teenagers, cousins by relationship, went to see the dairy farm of one Macha Koteswara Rao at Konuru village in Achempeta mandal on the banks of river Krishna. One of them, Macha Kautilya (12), went for a swim in the river and was sucked into the waters. When he cried for help, his cousins Parupalli Ajay (19) and Macha Manidar (16) jumped into the river to rescue him, but they too were washed away.
The remaining four rushed to their elders who in turn informed the police. Expert swimmers, who were deployed soon, found all the three bodies. A case was registered with the Achampeta police. Manidar was the son of the dairy farm owner Koteswara Rao and was an SSC student at Krosur. Kautilya was the son of Koteswara Rao’s younger brother Srinivasa Rao and was a Class VI student at Achampet. Parupalli Ajay (19), a BTech student from Guntur and a native of Deepaladinnepalem village, came to his relative’s house at Konuru to celebrate Sankranti.
In another incident, D Sivaramakrishna (6) and D Sri Sai (5), children of D Anjaiah and Ramamma, both residents of Lingapuram village in Macherla mandal, inadvertently entered the Chandravanka stream while playing. Their parents had gone to the stream near their village after Kanuma puja and were busy in festival arrangements when the children slipped into the waters.
The duo noticed after some time that the children were missing and searched the area. A villager finally found the footwear of the children floating in the stream. Divers were pressed into service and they retrieved the bodies by evening.