Two youths drowned during immersion of a Ganesh idol at Vadagarahalli in Bagevalu panchayat in Arsikere taluk of Hassan district in Karnataka on the night of October 6.
The deceased are Praveen, 28, and Raja, 30. Both were natives of Vadagarahalli. Praveen was working in a private firm in Bengaluru while Raja operated an autorickshaw in the city.
They were in the village for the Dasara festival and took part in the procession of Lord Ganesh. They got into the water, along with others, to immerse the idol. However, they could not come out. The tank was filled to the brim after many years, following rains in the village.
Raja’s elder brother Mahalinge Gowda, who had come to the village from Bengaluru after learning about his brother’s death, died of a heart attack.
The bodies have been shifted to HIMS in Hassan for a post-mortem. Gandasi police have registered a case.
