Bengaluru: NCC cadet drowned as others were busy clicking selfie in pond
Bengaluru: A group of NCC cadets, who were busy clicking selfie in a pond, failed to notice their fellow cadet drowning. The incident came to light almost an hour after the incident when the cadets were about to leave.
The tragic incident occurred in Ramagondlu near Kanakapura in Ramanagar district on Sunday afternoon. Vishwas G, 17, a first-PU student at National College in Jayanagar and a resident of Hanumanthanagar, is the one who drowned. His father, Govindaiah, an auto driver, and relatives blamed the negligence of the college management for the incident.
A group of around 25 NCC cadets had gone to Ramagondlu for a camp on Saturday. They stayed there for a night and were supposed to return to the city on Sunday evening. Before starting to the city, the cadets supervised by Associate NCC Officer and Lecturer Rajesh went to the pond on the premises of Sri Gundajaneya Temple around 2 pm. The cadets got into the pond and started playing and taking selfies.
“Vishwas was also in the group. While a group of 11-12 cadets were taking selfie, Vishwas was drowning. But the cadets were busy clicking selfies and failed to notice him drowning. After almost an hour, the group was set to leave and a roll call was taken as per the procedure. Only then they realised that Vishwas was missing and when searched the area. They found his body around 10 feet down in the pond. Immediately they informed the villagers and the police. The body was fished out from the pond and the postmortem was conducted,” the Kaggalipura police, who have taken up a case, said.
Vishwas’s parents were informed about the incident in the evening by his fellow cadets and the parents are angry that the college authorities failed to call them earlier. On Monday morning, the parents and relatives gathered on the college premises, seeking an explanation about the incident. Tension prevailed for a while and policemen were deputed at the college as a precautionary measure.
The parents demanded that the ANO Rajesh be produced before them as they had to know how their son died. But Rajesh reportedly did not respond to the calls made by the college management. This led the parents and relatives to stage a protest in front of the college. It is also alleged that Rajesh did not accompany the cadets to the pond and left for the city, asking them to go home on their own.
Mr Govindaiah said that the college authority’s negligence claimed his only son’s life. “Vishwas left home on Saturday morning. He last spoke to his mother on Saturday night and told her that he would be back home on Sunday evening. When call came from his number again, a senior cadet was speaking and told us that Vishwas had died. The college management is least bothered and they are not answering our questions.”
The Kaggalipura police, who have taken up a case against the college management and ANO Rajesh, are investigating.
