Karnataka: Five drown in Mekedatu falls during outing

A group of 12 people had gone on an outing to the falls in Kanakapura when one of them ventured into the river for a swim, unaware of the heavy currents

Five college students from Bengaluru drowned in Mekedatu falls in Ramanagara district, during an outing with their friends, on Monday, according to the police.

Five college students from Bengaluru drowned in Mekedatu falls in Ramanagara district, during an outing with their friends (File Photo)

The police identified the victims as Abhishek (20), a student of computer science at Malleswarm government college and resident of Bihar; NL Aarpita (20), a second-year engineering student at Chikkabanavara RR college; Tejas (21), pursuing BCA at Vijayanagar government college; Neha (19); and Varsha (20), studying chemistry at KLE College in Rajajinagar, residents of Bengaluru.

They said that a group of 12 people had gone on an outing to the falls in Kanakapura when one of them ventured into the river for a swim, unaware of the heavy currents. Upon witnessing their friend’s struggle, four members of the group rushed to his aid, but they too were washed away.

Sathanur police inspector Harish Gowda said: “The incident occurred at around 12.30 pm near Mekedatu. After receiving the information, we rushed to the spot with fire brigade personnel and fished out the bodies by 4 pm. The bodies were handed over to family members after an autopsy at Dayananda Sagar Hospital. We registered a case under CRPC 174 (unnatural death report), and the investigation is ongoing.”

One of the villagers said: “Despite the sign boards being installed in that area warning about presence of crocodiles and 20-feet deep water, the students ventured into the water.”