BELAGAVI: Two commandos, who were on a training mission, drowned while crossing the Tilari River backwaters when their boat overturned at Tilari along the Karnataka-Maharashtra border on Saturday afternoon.
The deceased have been identified as Vijaykumar Dinwal (28), hailing from Rajasthan, and Diwakar Roy (26) from West Bengal. They were attached to the Junior Leaders Wing, Belagavi.
Police sources said Dinwal and Roy, who were trained soldiers, were undergoing a tough, 35-day commando training. They were being trained to cross a river with the help of boats during emergencies. Apart from the deceased, four other soldiers were on the boat.
All of them had completed their training and were returning when the boat capsized just 50 metres away from the river bank when the boat overturned. It is suspected that the vessel was overloaded on one side.
Though the two deceased were trained swimmers, they could not wriggle themselves out as the material, like rope and other equipment used in their mission, fell on them from the boat. The other four soldiers swam to the bank.
Senior officials and their team rushed to the spot and pulled the two out. But when they were rushed to the Belagavi Military Hospital, doctors declared them brought dead.
Police sources said around 180 soldiers are undergoing tough commando training for 35 days.
A case has been registered at the Chandgad Police Station in Maharashtra.