27-year-old delivery worker's body found in drain after drowning accident in Bengaluru: Report

Hemanth Kumar, 27, drowned after falling into a drain near the Jnanabharathi Metro station in Bengaluru.

The lifeless body of a 27-year-old food delivery worker, who tragically drowned after plunging into a drain leading to the Vrishabhavathi river in Bengaluru, was discovered on Sunday morning.

Kumar's motorcycle veered off to the left side of the road, and he fell into a drain near the Jnanabharathi Metro station. (Representative image) (HT PHOTO)

The deceased has been identified as Hemanth Kumar, a resident of Byatarayanapura on Mysuru Road, who was returning home on Friday night when the incident occurred around 10:15 pm. Struggling to maintain balance, he collided with the central median, The Times of India reported. His motorcycle veered off to the left side of the road, and Kumar himself fell into a drain near the Jnanabharathi Metro station.

A district fire officer and his team spotted Kumar's body floating in the drain on Sunday morning. Another senior officer from the fire and emergency services department also spoke to reporters and noted that the accident site was overgrown with bushes and litter, and the drain was approximately 10 feet deep. “Usually the body floats after 24 hours, so on Sunday morning, we went near the spot and found his body,” the officer told the publication.

Kumar's body was discovered 20 meters away from the location of his fall, buried in sediment, a police official overseeing the investigation said, according to another report. Despite an initial search spanning 2 kilometers along the drain from the accident site, rescue teams had found no leads.

Following a missing person report, the Jnanabharathi police were actively engaged in the search operation for over 30 hours. With the recovery of Kumar's body, the Jnanabharathi traffic police are preparing to initiate a case against him for reckless and negligent driving, the report stated.

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“There might be negligence on the part of the civic authorities as well. The gap between the crash barriers could have been covered”, an officer said, as quoted by the publication.

Kumar's body was handed over for a post-mortem, after which it was handed over to his family. He is survived by his parents and a brother, the report added.