Body of youth drowned in Mallalli waterfalls found

Somawarpet: The body of the youth Manoj (24), who had drowned while trying to take a selfie at Mallalli waterfalls, has been traced after a week. Based on the information provided by agriculturist Mallappa of Mallalli village, the Station Officer M. Shivanna-led team was successful in recovering the body from the river after a long search. The body was found stuck to a vine near Kumaradhara river, one kilometre from the waterfalls and it was removed from there. With the help of the villagers, the body was carried for two kilometres on foot and later shifted to the mortuary in Somwarpet where the post-mortem was conducted. In the light of the rainfall receding in these parts and the force of the water in the river having subsided, the body was traced, said Shivanna. Locals Ponnappa and Nikhil, Somwarpet’s auto driver Hasanabba, Policemen Shivakumar, Jagadish, Kumar and Siddarama participated in the search operations. Divers Fakirappa from Hunsur, Ramakrishna from Kushalnagar and Garaganduru’s Latif had searched for the body for four days amidst the rocks of the waterfalls. However, the body was not found.