Malpe (Udupi): The Malpe beach four mails from Udupi city is a tourist attraction for tour and college boys who never seen the Arabian Sea and when they see it they go mad with excitement to take a bath in the waves rolling on the beach.

Such was the case of a bus-load of PUC students and their supervisors (59) from Gundlupet near land-locked Mysore, who visited Malpe to have a bath in the sea and go round the natural port area where fishing boats and ship building industries exist. At the same time 3 college students from Banashankari in Bangalore had come to Malpe beach, after touring Gokarna and Murdeshwara temple and beaches arrived at Malpe to take bath in the fishing port area, along with 10 other students of their college almost coincidentally.
While Somashekhar (45) from the Gundlupet area was swimming in the sea he was dragged by waves and raised a cry for help, when 3 students from Bangalore Roopesh Kumar (21), Goutham Babu (21) and Dileep Kumar (21), rushed to save the middle aged manager of 58 PUC students from Gundlupet.

Somashekar about to drown and helpless, caught hold of the hand of Roopesh Kumar and 2 others who were holding hands standing in the waves to rescue each other. But Roopesh and Goutham went with Somashkhar in a tight grip under the sea, while Dileep managed to get free and swim back to the beach and was alive.

Somashekhar in his fear of death had pulled the 2 unknown Bangalore students in his grip and went in to the sea drowning with them.

The 3 body’s of Somashekhar (45) from Gundlupet, Roopesh and Goutham (each 21) from Bangalore were located and fished out from the sea later on.

However Dileep was in serious trouble on reaching the beach in a seek condition and had to be taken to ICU of Ajjarakadu Govt. Hospital in Udupi. There are chances of his survival, but a bus load of PUC students of Gundlupet and 10 students of Bangalore are in a shock at the tragedy that took place in their presence at Malpe beach on Monday. They look stunned by the pathetic happening.

The citizens of Malpe and Udupi have complained in Public that the Malpe Home guards, life savers, or divers, all trained persons to
look for tourists who visit Malpe seashore for a bath or a play, do not meet with watery graves or other accidents, are never to be seen in the areas of danger when tragedies take place, during day or night. Such negligence on the part of trained personnel at tourist spots like Malpe, Tanneer bavi, Murdeshwara or Gokarna seashores is dangerous in itself and should invite legal punishment from the courts, if tourism as ministers desire on the coastal belt has to improve and prosper. Merely collecting a toll at the Malpe beach sight is not the proper answer, the local people say with a firm gesture.