Bhatkal: A 17-year-old boy died after he was drowned in a pond in Shirali, around 6km from Bhatkal. The boy identified as Zubair Anas Ali Akbara s/o Irshad Ali Akbara was a resident of Kargedde in Bhatkal.

It is said that a group of seven to eight young men, including three from Kargedde had been to swimming at a pond in Shirali at around 9 AM. It is said that when Zubair dived into the pond at around 10 AM, he did not turn up again. The boys already in the pond tried to look out for him, but all the efforts to locate him went in vain. It was then the youth from the town were alarmed for help.

Hundreds of youngsters rushed to the spot immediately after help was sought. Around 10 to 15 expert swimmers dived into the pond to look out for the boy. It is observed that the depth of the pond was 25 to 30 feet and it comes under the forest area of ​​Shirali. After carrying out the search operation for around ninety minutes, the body of the drowned youth was recovered from the pond.

The deceased was the student of PUC first year at Anjuman College. In the past he was a NRI, residing in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia with his parents, but for the last two years he was living in Bhatkal with his mother and sister.

As soon as the incident was reported, Bhatkal rural police Inspector Mahabaleshwar Nayak, PSI Bharat and many other officials reached the spot. A team of fire brigade also reached the spot.

A case has been registered at Bhatkal Rural Police Station.