KOTTAYAM: A Navy officer drowned while swimming in a stream in the district. Lt Abhishek Kumar, 28, from Southern Naval Command, went missing while taking a dip in the stream near Marmala waterfalls, said his friends who were with him.
They said Kumar, a native of Lucknow, was swept away in a sudden surge of water from the falls around Sunday noon.
The body was fished out around 4pm by the fire and rescue unit from Erattupetta and ‘Team Nanmakoottam’, a group of rescuers based in Erattupetta.
The officer, based at INS Shardul, was on holiday with seven-member team of Navy officers. Kumar had gone for swimming with four others. The strong currents built by the waterfalls, and the cold weather hampered the search operation.
Erattupetta SHO said that the four were taking bath in the stream and that Kumar swam towards the waterfalls, where there were strong undercurrents and that he might have got stuck in a whirlpool. Though the others swam back to shore, Kumar went missing, said the officer.
An inquest will be held on Monday morning after conducting a Covid test and the body will be released after an autopsy at Kottayam Medical College Hospital, said the officer.
The deceased officer leaves behind his old parents. He had recently reported to INS Shardul for his first staff appointment. The Navy is going to order a board of inquiry into the officer’s death.
