Teen jumps into lake to evade arrest, drowns

Coimbatore: A teenage boy on Friday drowned in Valankulam while trying to evade arrest in a robbery case, even as the Ramanathapuram police nabbed two of his friends in connection with the case.
An investigation officer identified the deceased as Viswa, 18, a daily wage labourer from Ondipudur in the city. According to him, Viswa, along with his friends Srihari, 18, and Dharaniselvam, 18, both residents of Olympus near Ramanathapuram, had robbed R Pasupathi, 19, of Housing Unit at South Ukkadam, of his mobile phone and ₹500 around 5.30pm on Friday.
The officer said the incident took place at Alwin Nagar near Sungam-Ukkadam bypass road and the trio were under the influence of alcohol. “However, before the trio could flee, a special team of the Ramanathapuram police, who were on patrol in the area, rounded them up. Viswa managed to escape, while police secured the remaining two and took them to the police station.”
He said the secured duo - Srihari and Dharaniselvam - were students of a private arts and science college at Nava India. “Viswa, meanwhile, crossed the Sungam-Ukkadam bypass road and jumped into Valankulam to escape from police. He attempted to cross the waterbody by swimming. However, he became tired and sought help from the public. A private security guard who was on duty at Valankulam noticed the teenage boy and alerted the Coimbatore South fire and rescue services station.”
By the time fire brigades reached the spot and launched a search, Viswa had drowned, the officer said. The firefighters retrieved his body and sent that to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital for postmortem.
The Race Course police have registered a case in connection with the drowning incident. The body was handed over to the family members after the autopsy on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Ramanathapuram police have booked Srihari and Dharaniselvam under Section 309 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.