Five B Tech students go missing in Godavari near Bhadrachalam, three bodies recovered

A Ugadi trip turned tragic as engineering students drowned in the Godavari river near Bhadrachalam during a photo shoot, with three bodies recovered and two still missing, prompting search operations by police and fire personnel

Kothagudem: A photo shoot in the Godavari river as part of the Telugu New Year Ugadi pilgrimage by a group of second-year engineering students turned tragic, with three drowning in the river while two remain missing.

According to police, the students Pasam Satish Kumar (19) of Madanapalle in Chittoor district, Teja Gnana Sai (19) of Uyyuru, Chanduri Deepak of Kalidindi in Krishna district, Gaddam Harshavardhan of Vizianagaram, and Charugulla Srikar (21) of Bhadrachalam, all pursuing B Tech at SRM University, Amaravati, along with Daggupati Navadeep (19) of Uyyuru and Podicheti Abhiram (19) of Bhadrachalam, who were pursuing B Tech at KL University, Vijayawada, were friends.

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They arrived in Bhadrachalam on Thursday, stayed at a temple guest cottage, and offered prayers at Sri Seetha Ramachandra Swamy Devasthanam on the occasion of Ugadi. On Friday morning, they headed to the Kollugudem sand ramp, and, finding no water there, walked nearly three kilometres to reach a section of the river where the water levels were higher.

After taking photos there, the group, except Deepak, entered the river for a bath. As they walked into the river holding hands, they ventured further into a deeper stretch, where Teja Gnana Sai was the first to go missing. In an attempt to rescue him, Srikar, Navadeep, Abhiram, Satish Kumar and Harshavardhan also slipped into the river.

Harshavardhan managed to swim back to safety, while the remaining five went missing. Deepak, who remained on the bank and witnessed the incident, raised an alarm, but there was no one nearby to help.

The group alerted Ramakrishna, father of Srikar, as well as the police. On receiving information, Bhadrachalam fire personnel Kumar, Prakash and Naveen, along with local Sub-Inspectors Satish and Shyam Prasad and expert swimmer Prasad, launched search operations.

The bodies of Srikar, Abhiram and Navadeep were recovered by evening and shifted to Bhadrachalam Area Hospital.

Abhiram was the grandson of Bhadradri temple priest Podicheti Ramanujacharyulu, and was working as a parichar at the temple. He was expected to be appointed as a priest soon.