Search on for techie after coracle capsizes in Karnataka

BENGALURU: A techie is suspected to have drowned after he fell into Kalkere Lake in the early hours of Saturday. He and his friend had partied till late night before they ventured into the water body on a coracle.
Sachin Machaiah, 27, was employed with a private company in Manyata Tech Park and lived in Electronics City. He fell into the lake around 3am when the coracle capsized after the duo lost balance. His friend Ullas, a resident of Ramamurthynagar, escaped by swimming to the shore, police said.
Swimmers and rescue personnel were deployed to trace Sachin, but couldn’t make any breakthrough till evening. The search operation will resume on Sunday, police said.
Preliminary investigations revealed Sachin and Ullas were good friends for several years and were colleagues till six months ago when Ullas moved to a new job. They had partied near the lake several times in the past and sat down to chat on Friday night as well. After midnight, they sneaked inside the lake area through the rear gate by hoodwinking security guard Rajesh Erappa, who was stationed at the front gate.
Based on Ullas’ statement, police said the two decided to go for a boat ride and picked up a coracle that was lying nearby. Though there were no paddles around, the two sailed for a few feet in the water when the coracle rocked. While Ullas swam to safety and raised an alarm, Sachin did not make it to the shore. Earappa rushed to the spot and alerted police.
A senior officer from the fire and emergency department said the coracle could have capsized as Sachin weighed more than Ullas. “There should be a balance of weight in the coracle. Gathering from Ullas’ statements, we assume Sachin was sitting on the right corner. As the coracle moved, it tilted to the right and capsized,” an officer said. Sachin hailed from Virajpet in Kodagu and had got married last year.