Bengaluru: With 54 people dead and nearly four lakh people lodged in relief camps, Karnataka has been reeling under flood fury for the past several days. In a surprising incident, a 60-year-old man who went missing in the flood for two days came back alive.
A media report said, after the Kabini reservoir was opened, Nanjangud town was flooded. People were shifted to relief camps. Venkatesh Murthy, who is a priest, jumped into the Kapila river and went missing for two days. The video of him jumping into the river went viral on social media.
Onlookers had tried to save him by throwing a rope from the Hejjige bridge, but he disappeared as the current was strong. He was also counted in the list of victims. His family members began searching for him. However, to everyone’s surprise Murthy returned back alive.
PTI quoted his family members reactions: His sister Manjula said that this was not the first time that Murthy had jumped into the river. “He has been doing it for the past 25-30 years,” PTI quoted her as saying. She further stated that Murty had been trapped in a pillar of Hejjige bridge and remained there for two days.
Speaking to a new channel, Murthy said, “I usually swam from the middle of the pillars, but the current was so strong that I opted to hold the pillar. That was a mistake as I was trapped in the weeds stuck there.”
Murthy told a news channel. Somehow, he managed to climb on the chamber of the bridge and remained there for 60 hours and came out from there once the flood receded.
Dare devilry is nothing new for Murthy. A few years ago, he had travelled across from Kashmir to Kanyakumari – 10,000 km – on his bicycle.