THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The grandson of the first Speaker of the Kerala assembly R Sankara Narayan Thampi was washed away by waves at Kovalam beach on Sunday night.
The grandson identified as Praveen, 30 of Eshwara Vilasaom road near Jagathi was the son of Oleena Thampi and late Gopakumar, is presumed dead. The victim, who was working as a production controller, was here to take a dip in the sea on Monday night when he was caught in the high tide.
The coastal police and Coast Guard launched search operations using three boats on Monday but his body could not be recovered even at the time of going to press.
Praveen, who was here at a local hotel for dinner, reached the beach with five of his friends.
While others were sitting ashore near the poorly lit beach, Praveen entered the sea, gradually venturing deeper and vanished. His friends raised an alarm and there was a search by onlookers while locals alerted the police.
“It is suspected that he had consumed alcohol before venturing into the water. We are not sure whether it was a suicide attempt,” said Vizhinjam Coastal CI Suresh Kumar.
A total of 15 people were washed away from various beaches in and around Kovalam over the last one year.
