Drowned man found alive in Kundapur

Drowned man found alive in Kundapur

Mangalore Today News Network

Surathkal, May 17, 2012 :  Shrinivas Padakanayya, who fell in Kuloor River after his scooter skidded on Friday, was found in Kundapur on the night of May 15, Tuesday. People had believed that Padakanayya had died of drowning and attempts to retrieve his body had failed. Padakanayya is now taking treatment in a private hospital in Suratkal.

Swathi, Padakanayya’s wife, had said that her husband fell into Kuloor River near KIOCL when the scooter they were on skidded on the morning of Friday. Although the police department, the KIOCL diving team, and the Coast Guard made several attempts to find his body, they failed to do so. But five days after this incident, the Kundapur police found Padakanayya in Kundapur.

Swathi had informed the police that Padakanayya had fallen into the river after their scooter skidded, but the police and even the public noted that the distance between the road and the river was too much for any accident victim to fall into. Moreover, the MSEZ had leveled the road near the river.

Besides, Padakanayya had been riding on the left side of the road and the river is on the right side. Even if he had fallen in, he could not have drowned because there are several tree roots and weeds between the river and the road.

People had also become suspicious about the fact that Swathi rode the scooter all the way to her house in Ganeshpura from Panambur to inform her parents about the accident instead of making any attempts to rescue her husband. She also appeared comfortable and tension-free when she sat in an air-conditioned car while the rescue teams were trying to retrieve her husband’s body from the river. The suspicions of the police intensified when neither Swathi nor her parents appeared interested in cooperating with their investigation.

The Kundapur police, who found Shrinivas Padakanayya in Kundapur, handed him over to the Panambur police. He told the police that he had a cheque for Rs. 96 lakh on him when he fell into the river on Friday. He also said that a gang of unknown people had kidnapped him, taken his cheque away from him, shaved his head, and abandoned him in Kundapur.