KAKINADA/PEDAVEGI: A picnic trip ended in tragedy on Saturday. The police said four engineering students of a private college at Bhogapuram in West Godavari district were found dead in a tank near the village. The incident occurred on Saturday, but came to light on Sunday.
According to Eluru superintendent of police (DSP) K. Eswara Rao, the four students —G. Vijaya Sankar, 21, of Chintalapudi village, K. Harikrishnam Raju, 21, of Kothavuru, A.S.K. Parasuram, 21, of Kothuru village and Kota Sai, 19, of Patachintalapudi village — went to ‘Goa Gardens, near Vatluru tank in Bhogapuram.
There, Vijaya Sankar, Harikrishnam Raju and Parasuram stepped into the tank for a dip. They lost their footing and went down in the water even as the fourth student Kota Sai tried to help them out.
In the process, he too slipped and drowned in the lake. The victims’ clothes, bags and identity cards were recovered later from the site in the garden. Police suspect they might have consumed alcohol before going to the lake.
DSP Eswara Rao said that a man from the village who went to the tank to relieve himself on Sunday morning noticed some footwear and clothes on the banks and informed to the police. The police found liquor bottles, bags containing college books, identity cards, lunch boxes and other items at the spot.
