A 15-year-old Bengaluru resident, who had gone missing on Tuesday, was found dead in a lake in Belthangady taluk of Dakshina Kannada on Thursday.
Yashwant Sai, an SSLC student from Hoodi, was found in the Guruvayanakere lake in Dakshina Kannada two days after he went missing from his home in Hoodi in Mahadevapura in Bengaluru.
Yashwant was a student of ITI Vidya Mandir and was dropped to his usual bus at 8 am on Tuesday morning by his grandfather HM Thyagaraj. While he was supposed to return at 4.30 pm, Thyagaraj was alarmed when he did not turn up. Upon enquiring at his school, Thyagaraj found out that he had not attended school on Tuesday. A frantic attempt to find the boy was unsuccessful. He eventually filed a missing persons complaint at Mahadevapura Police Station limits
Yashwant's body was found at Guravayanakere lake in Dakshina Kannada and police confirmed that no injuries were found to be visible on the body.
BR Ravikanthe Gowda, SP, Dakshina Kannada district, in a statement, said: “Some news channels expressed doubt that it might be a Blue Whale game related case. However, no injury was found on the body. The investigation has not revealed any link to the game. The father of the boy said he was poor in studies,” as per The Hindu. Police officials have refused to rule out foul play and are investigating the case.
They confirmed that the boy had reached Belthangady on Wednesday morning and was heading towards Udupi. A diary found in his bag had said that he was going to Udupi to work for five months.
Narasaiah, Head Master of ITI Vidya Mandir however said that the news came as a shock to most people who knew Yashwant. “He was a good student and mingled with all. There was no incident of teasing or ragging in the school, and we are shocked to know about his death. We also enquired with his friends whether he had shared anything with them. But they have no idea. He last attended the classes on Monday and had not turned up on Tuesday,” he said as per The New Indian Express.
Police said the boy had reached Belthangady on Wednesday morning and boarded a bus heading towards Udupi. He got off near the lake in Guruvayanakere. They found a diary in his bag in which the boy had written that he was going to Udupi to work for five months.
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