Two forest officials feared drowned in Pranhita river

Six forest officials were returning to Gudem from Aheri in Maharashtra when the mishap occurred.
For representational purposes
For representational purposes

ADILABAD: Two forest beat officers are feared to have drowned in Pranhita river in Komaram Bheem district on Sunday. They were returning to Gudem from Aheri in Maharashtra when the country boat in which they were travelling capsized.

The missing officers have been identified as M Balakrishna (33), working in Kyathini beat, and B Suresh (34), working in Chittam beat in Karjavelli forest range in Kagaznagar forest division. Police and forest officials visited the spot and started to trace the bodies, but had to halt their operations as night approached. Two special teams from Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) and NDRF will begin the trace on Monday.

According to the police, they had been regularly patrolling both the Telangana and Maharashtra sides of the river, as a part of which a team visited the Aheri village border.

There were a total of six people on the boat, including two boat drivers, a local, and the three forest beat officers. After the boat capsized in the middle of the river, four escaped, including beat officer Md Saddam. The two missing officers allegedly did not know how to swim.

Superintendent of Police P Malla Reddy and DSP Kagaznagar DLM Swamy visited the Pranhita river and stated that they were tracing the dead bodies with the help of expert swimmers. They also stated that a case had been filed and that they had started an investigation into the incident. The SCCL and NDRF teams will start the search for the bodies on Monday as the water levels in the river remain high.
Forest Minister A Indrakaran Reddy instructed the police and the forest officials to take the necessary steps to retrieve the bodies.

According to the Kagaznagar Division Officer, Balakrishna had been appointed in July this year and was a native of Chintaguda village in Kagaznagar and that Suresh had only been appointed on October.

SCCL, NDRF to start search on Monday
SP Malla Reddy and DSP of Kagaznagar, DLM Swamy, visited the river and stated that they were tracing the bodies with the help of expert swimmers. They also stated that a case had been filed and that they had started an investigation into the incident. The two special teams from SCCL and NDRF will start the search for the bodies of the beat officers on Monday as water levels in the river remain high

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