Bodies of man, two children found in car submerged in Visvesvaraya canal in Mandya

A section of the Visvesvaraya canal alongside the Mandya-Pandavapura main road (left). The canal passes alongside roads across Mandya district of Karnataka. 
| Photo Credit: File photo

The bodies of a man and his two children were found in a car submerged in Visvesvaraya canal in KRS police station limits in Mandya district of Karnataka.

According to police, the victims are Kumaraswamy, 38, a native of K. R. Nagar who works in Bengaluru, and his two children aged 3 and 8 years.

Police said Mr. Kumaraswamy and his two children had reportedly called his family members in K. R. Nagar on April 17, informing them that they would be visiting KRS reservoir, and would soon reach their native place. “The children too had spoken to their grandfather,” said a police official.

But later, when there was no sign of them, the worried family members went to the police to report them as missing. A complaint was registered in Madanayakanahalli police station in Bengaluru Rural on April 19.

The car in which the trio were travelling is believed to have surfaced when the water level in the canal decreased at North Bank of on April 29. When the car was pulled out, the rescue personnel found three bodies.

Police suspect that the car may have hit a stone on the road and fallen into the canal. The car’s front portion appears to have been damaged, said a police official suspecting that the driver had lost control of the vehicle, leading to it falling into the canal.

A case has been registered at KRS police station.

The incident is expected to once again spark a debate on the absence of safety barriers around Visvesvaraya canal that passes alongside roads across Mandya district. Several lives had been lost in mishaps involving vehicles plunging into the canal in different places across the district.

A committee of officials constituted by the Mandya district administration had recommended construction of safety barriers along the canals, lakes, and other waterbodies, and the installation of warning signs near accident-prone sites on the roads.