A weekend excursion to Kanakapura turned tragic for three students as they drowned in the Cauvery river at Mekedatu, near Arkavathi Sangama, 95 kilometres from Bangalore.
The three—identified as Vivekananda (18), Akhil Kumar (18), Venu Gopal (19) —were studying BE at Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College of Engineering, Jakkasandra Post, Kanakapura taluk.
They were part of a group of seven students on a trip to the popular weekend getaway on Sunday morning.
According to the hostel warden Girish, the students did not inform him about the trip. “They told me they had some work in Kanakapura and left the hostel early morning. They lied to me,” said Girish.
According to the police, the students first went to Sangama by bus in the morning and reached Mekedatu in the afternoon. “They were not swimming when the incident happened. They were near the river bank when, around 1.45 pm, Vivekananda slipped and fell into the water. Akhil and Venugopal tried to rescue him, but they also drowned,” said the police.
The bodies could not be traced till late Sunday evening.
The other four, who were part of the trip, have been identified as T Abhinav, Suresh Kumar, R Abhinav and Ravi Teja.
A case has been registered at the Sathanur police station.
