Bhatkal: A tourist from Chamarajanagar district is feared to have drowned while swimming in Arabian Sea, off Murdeshwar coast in Uttara Kannada district on Sunday. Three others with him were rescued by lifeguards.

According to Murdeshwar police, 20-year-old Madappa Madiwalashetty went missing while swimming, and a search and rescue operation was launched by Coastal Security Police, fishermen and swimming experts to trace him.

Till late evening, the body could not be traced and the search operation will continue early tomorrow. Madiwalashetty hailed from Shettrandi village in Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagar district in South Karnataka.

Five friends from Chamarajanagar and Ramanagar districts had come on a day trip to Murdeshwar early on Sunday. While one of them stood on the beach, four went into the sea for a swim, when Madiwalashetty got washed away in the waves. The three friends tried to rescue him, but they too got carried away into the deep waters.

Lifeguards at the beach noticed the struggling youths and rescued three of them – Ravish H M of Gerahalli village in Ramanagar district, and Yogesh Nayak and Siddaraju Shetty of Gundlupet.