Bangalore: A weekend picnic turned tragic for a group of Sikhs from the City as four of them drowned in the river Cauvery at Sangam near Bommasandra in Kanakapura taluk on Sunday. Their bodies are yet to be recovered.

Raju Singh (32), J Balaji Singh (51), his son B Raghunandan Singh (24) and Sandeep Singh (32), were part of a group of 21 Sikhs, all residents of Mathikere, that had organised the trip.

The group arrived at Sangam around noon. Raju, who went into the river for a swim, found himself being swept away by strong currents and cried out for help.

Balaji, Raghunandan and Sandeep dived into the river to rescue him, but the currents proved too strong for them as well and they too were swept away.

Search in vain

The police formed a team of local divers to rescue the missing people. However, the team searched in vain till late evening. “We searched for the bodies till late evening but couldn’t find them. We had to stop the search operation by 7 pm as it was getting dark. We will resume it in the morning,” Anupam Agarwal, Ramanagara SP, said.

He said the river at the accident site was very deep and was not a picnic spot. There are sign boards in the area warning tourists not to venture into the river for swimming.

Fishing was also prohibited at the spot because of the danger it can pose to anglers.

“However, the four men seem to have ignored the warnings”, he said.-DH News