Mantralayam: In a tragic turn of events, the Mantralayam police, along with the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), recovered the bodies of five victims from the Tungabhadra river near Mantralayam on Sunday. The incident occurred when a family gathering for a religious ritual turned disastrous as five individuals were swept away while swimming in the river on Saturday.
Rescue Operation and Recovery
Despite immediate rescue efforts launched by the Mantralayam police and SDRF teams on Saturday, the operation did not yield results until Sunday, when the bodies were finally retrieved. The victims were identified as Satish (35), his son Yuvan Chandra (5), Dhanu (23), Sandhya (22), and Raghavendra (25).
Postmortem and Ongoing Investigations
Mantralayam MRO Rama Devi and CI Dasthagiri, who coordinated the rescue operations since Saturday, arranged for the bodies to be shifted for postmortem on Sunday. Meanwhile, during the renewed search on Sunday, the police also discovered the body of a 70-year-old man from Karnataka, identified as D.H. Yalakki Gowda, a resident of Doddamodur village in Hasan district. His body was also sent for postmortem, and local authorities informed their Karnataka counterparts and Gowda's family members.
The incident has left the community in shock, highlighting the dangers of swimming in the river without precautions.
