Three Bengaluru students drown in river near Hogennakal falls 

BENGALURU: A trip for eight students, studying in a city college, to Hogennakkal falls turned tragic when three of them drowned in the Cauvery river near the falls on Friday.

The deceased were identified as Santosh Kumar(22), Balaji (18), a resident of Kanakapura and Yeshas (18) from Uttarahalli. They were diploma students of K S Polytechnic College at Talaghattapura who went to Hogennakkal falls -- a popular series of waterfalls in Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri district, at a distance of about 180 km from Bengaluru -- for a trip. 

According to the police, the eight students were swimming within a restricted forest area. A police official from Hogennakkal police station said the boys went swimming in the river which is about half a kilometre away from the falls on Friday. After three of them drowned, the police were informed of the incident and personnel of the Fire and Emergency Rescue Services began to search for their bodies. Two bodies were found on Friday, while the third one was fished out on Saturday morning.

The official said one security person is assigned to prevent people from entering the restricted area. The family members of the deceased have gone to Hogennakkal. The bodies of the three deceased men have been handed over for a post-mortem at Pennagaram Government Hospital. Hogennakkal police have registered a case.