Three Arrested in Kodi Bengre Boat Capsize Case

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, Feb 1, 2026: The Kota Police in Udupi district have arrested three persons, including the boat owner and two drivers, in connection with the capsizing of a tourist boat at Kodi Bengre near the Hangarkatte Ship Building area on January 26, which claimed three lives.

The arrested have been identified as boat owner Suhas Shriyan (23) and boat drivers Sophiyan (20) and Vasu Mendon (52), all residents of Kodi village in Brahmavar taluk.

According to the police, the boat, operated by the Wave Riders firm, was carrying 14 tourists, all employees of a BPO company in Mysuru, when it capsized while travelling from Delta Beach Point in Malpe towards Kodi Kanyaya. The incident resulted in the deaths of Shankarappa (27), P. Sindhu (23) and Disha (26).

Initially registered by the Malpe Police, the case was later transferred to the jurisdictional Kota Police Station for investigation. In a press note, the police said the probe revealed that the boat did not have a valid permit from the Tourism Department. It also lacked certification declaring it fit to carry tourists.

The accused have been booked under Sections 284 (conveying persons by water for hire in an unsafe or overloaded vessel), 125(a) (act endangering life or personal safety), 106 (causing death by negligence), 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.