Mangaluru: One among three persons who ventured into the sea to pick mollusks (Kappe Chippu in Kannada) drowned here at Someshwar Uchila end point on Sunday, July 3. A youth however managed to rescue the other two, who were drowning in a bid to save to their friend.
Achyuth (43) of Kumpala is the deceased.

On Sunday, Achyuth along with two of his friends Sathish from Madoor and Narayana from Talapady went to the Bettampady seashore and ventured into the water without any life jackets. Illegal sand mining near the sea has left behind huge holes in the seabed which was not noticed by Achyuth. He was reportedly pulled down by the strong currents. Seeing their friend drowning, Sathish and Narayan who did not know to swim tried to rescue him, as a result of which the duo started drowning.

Harish (36) from Kumpala who had come along with his friends to pick mollusks, knew swimming and seeing Sathish and Narayana drown, jumped into the water and saved them. Hameed, a local boatman, brought the duo in his boat to the seashore safely.

Achyuth is a daily wage worker and his wife works at a hospital while his son attends primary school.

Locals have urged police and the concerned officials to wake up and take action, as people from the area and outside enter into the sea water to pick mollusks without making use of any precautionary measures.

Ullal police visited the spot and efforts to locate Achyuth’s body is on.