Bengaluru: Forty eight hours after relentless search operation for the two bodies of the stunts-men who drowned in T.G. Halli reservoir, one of the bodies was found afloat on Wednesday that was identified to be that of Raghav Udhay’s.
The body was swollen, bloated, heavily decomposed and bitten all over by fish, a member of the search team said. The search for the other body of Anil resumed after Uday’s body was brought to the shore.
There was utter chaos at the banks of the T.G. Halli lake when Uday’s body was found floating by the team around 3.20 pm. Right from morning NDRF, SDRF and Fire and Emergency Services personnel, along with deep water divers from Mangaluru, were carrying out the search.
The search operation was overseen by Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner V. Shankar and DIG Fire and Emergency Service H.S. Revanna. Initially the search team mistook the floating body to be that of divers. However, when all the divers came to the surface, they confirmed that it was a dead body and pulled it over to one of dinghy boats.
“The body came afloat almost at the same place where Uday had jumped into the lake from the helicopter on Monday afternoon,” said H.S. Revanna.
“Even after more than 48 hours the search team could not find the bodies and finally one body surfaced on its own,” said an activist hinting at the lack of expertise in the search and rescue team to retrieve bodies even after taking help from expert divers.
Confusion over identity
Initially, there was confusion in identifying the body as it was bloated. Both victims were bodybuilders and on the day of the accident wore almost same coloured trousers and were bare-chested.
DC V. Shankar even announced to the media that the body was of Anil, but Duniya Vijay, the lead actor, who was also a part of the search team, correctly identified it with the help of Uday’s long hair and confirmed his identity. “Both Anil and Uday had same structured built bodies, had mustache and beard, but while Anil had short hair, Uday had long hair,” Vijay told reporters.
As soon as the body reached the shore, there was utter chaos with the crowd mobbing the ambulance to catch a glimpse and the police had tough time controlling the crowd. As the body was heavily decomposed, the post-mortem was carried out at a shamiana that was put up at the bank of the lake.
The police allowed only Uday’s sister Asha and her husband entry into the shamiana to identify the body. After the post-mortem, Uday’s body was then shifted in an ambulance to his house on K.R. Road in Banashankari.
Home minister G. Parameshwar visited T.G. Halli lake on Wednesday. “We will work on safety guidelines that need to be followed by the film crew whenever there is a shoot risky scenes,” Parameshwar told reporters and added that he would speak to the CM to decide on the compensation for the victims. He also told that the law will take its own course and any person found culpable for this crime of negligence of life will be punished.
Family inconsolable
Uday’s family members including his mother Kausalya and sister Asha were seen inconsolable after learning that Uday’s body had came afloat. Kausalya had lost consciousness after she saw her son’s body in the freezer that came home from T.G. Halli reservoir on Wednesday night.
Family members of Uday have decided to do his final rites at the Banashankari crematorium on Thursday morning. Search operation for Anil Kumar’s body resumed and the search team presumed that Anil’s body would also come afloat on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.
Uday bore injury marks
According to the family members, the body of Raghav Uday bore injury marks on his hands, chest and face. They suspect that while jumping off the helicopter from 100 feet above the lake, he could have hit the lake-bed, they alleged. However, only after the post-mortem results are out one would be able to ascertain the exact cause of death.
KFCC’s ban on Vijay
The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) on Wednesday unanimously decided to temporarily ban the three members of the ‘Maasthi Gudi’ film team, including lead actor Duniya Vijay, director Nagashekar and stunt choreographer Raviverma from taking part in any film related works until further notice.
Actors visit lake site
Scores of Sandalwood actors made short visits to the T.G. Halli reservoir even on Wednesday as well. Shivaraj Kumar and Sharan were seen consoling Duniya Vijay and the team.
