A 26-year-old IT employee drowned while taking a selfie on the banks of the Sigurhalla river in Kalhatti, Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. The incident took place Saturday, July 16, and the techie has been identified as Gutta Vineeta Chowdary. As per police reports, the young techie was a native of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh and was working in Bengaluru. She visited Ooty with nine other colleagues and was staying in a private lodge in the Kalhatti area. 

On Saturday, she allegedly tried to take selfies at the closed-to-the-public Kalhatti Falls but slipped and fell into the river.  Following a request from the district administration, members of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) began efforts to rescue her. However, Vineetha’s body was discovered by the crew early on Sunday, July 17.   

According to reports, Vineeta’s body was found close to the 20th hairpin turn at the foothills of Kalhatti slopes. The body was sent to the Udagai Government Medical College Hospital for autopsy. 

The Nilgiris police and the district administration have launched a full-fledged investigation to find out if the resort owners made it easier for the group to enter the Kalhatti waterfall, which is closed for tourism. Upon the District Collector’s orders, 10 cottages at the lodge have been sealed until further notice. 

Reports say this was the second time that tourists in the area were allowed to access prohibited spots. On July 3, TNIE reported that a resort in the area was sealed, and two of its employees were detained on suspicion of leading visitors into a prohibited area, which resulted in an accident. After their van overturned on the Kalhatti ghat road, a 29-year-old lady died and 17 other people suffered life-threatening injuries.

Parts of Nilgiris have been witnessing continuous rains of the past few days, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a heavy rain alert for Nilgiris and the ghat areas of the Coimbatore district, till Sunday, July 17.