A person and his two nieces drowned in the Bhadra canal near Lakkavalli in Tarikere taluk of Chikkamagaluru district on Sunday evening.
Ravi, 31, and his two nieces, Ananya, 17, and Shamaveni, 16, had gone to play in the water. One of the girls drowned, forcing the other two to run to rescue her. All three drowned around 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Ananya of Shivamogg and Shamaveni of Nanjanagud were on a visit to their uncle’s place in Lakkavalli to spend the vacations. The relatives and residents rushed to the spot soon after learning about the incident. Lakkavalli police and the Fire and Emergency Services staff also reached the spot.
The staff traced the bodies of Ananya and Ravi on Monday evening. The efforts to retrieve Shamaveni’s body continued until late in the evening on Monday. Ananya’s body was found about 300 metres away from the spot where she drowned, while her uncle’s body was found about a kilometre away.
The local people alleged that the Bhadra dam authorities were not cooperating with the people engaged in the search operations. They did not reduce the flow of water to facilitate the search operation, they said.
Chikkamagaluru SP Uma Prashanth and other officers visited the spot.
