Mandya: In a tragic incident, the first of such a case, a man was killed by a crocodile while he was swimming in the Cauvery river on Sunday, May 27. The incident occurred at Muthathi in the Malavalli taluk of Mandya.

The man has been identified as 52-year-old Venkatesh, who was a resident of Hesaraghatta in northwest Bengaluru. According to police, Venkatesh was in Muthathi with his family and friends to visit the temple and offer prayers.

The tragic incident is said to have occurred at around 8.30 am, when Venkatesh was caught by the crocodile and dragged away. Panicked witnesses immediately alerted some of the local youth, who promptly jumped into the perilous waters to rescue the man. After hitting the crocodile with sticks and scaring it away, they managed to pull Venkatesh back out of the water.

It was however, too late for the victim as he lost his left foot and suffered other serious injuries in the attack. He passed away before the youth were able to rescue him.

Environmentalists and authorities of the locality have said that this was the first of such an incident, tragic as it was.

Venkatesh’s body was returned to his family after an autopsy was conducted.