Sullia, November 24: Two college students drowned while swimming in Kumaradhara River here on the November 23rd. Their bodies were fished out on November 24th.
The deceased have been identified as Jitesh(17), son of Ayyanna Gowda, a resident of Kukradka of Guttigaru and Stephen Raj (17), son of Ramamurthy, resident of CRC Colony, Enekallu. Both were second year students of Subramanyeshwara Pre-University College.
As per sources, five students of the same college had been to swim in the river. While swimming, Jitesh and Stephen, went missing. The other three, who were scared, went home and did not inform anyone about the incident, sources said.
The parents of the missing boys grew anxious, when they did not return home from college. They began to search the youths and also filed missing complaints in Subramanya police station.
Meanwhile, some Ayyappa devotees who went to the river, observed school bags and footwear lying on the banks and informed the locals.
The parents of the boys too came to know about it and rushed at the spot.
It is said, as the river was very deep near Agrahara, it was difficult for the locals to search for the bodies there. The fire service was also called from Sullia, but even till late night, the bodies were not found. The search operation continued even on Tuesday, and at around noon, bodies of both the students were retrieved.
