Thiruvananthapuram: A 27-year-old police died on Saturday when the ship where he traveled upside down in a lake during a hunting of the fugitive.
Balu S, a police officer attached to the armed police battalion (SAP), was the deceased.
He is the son of D Suresh and Anila D from ‘Karthika’, Alissery near Punnapra in the Alappuzha District.
Balu is part of a team of four members led by Varkala Station House Officer Inspector V S Prasanth to arrest suspects of murder – Ottakam Rajesh – want to be in connection with the murder of Sudheesh in Pothencode.
They departed with the traditional boat to look for backwater island Pannumthuruth near Panayil Kadavu under the limit of the anchuthengu police station when the accident occurred around 12 noon on Saturday.
In addition to Prasanth and Balu, another officer on the boat was a civil police officer, Prasanth Kumar from Varkala Station and Constable Ananthapadmanabhan from SAP.
The boat, which was hired from a local resident, was driven by the regular boatman.
Their boat was upside down near the Kadavu Panayil Bridge and all the officers fell to the lake.
While the others were saved by local fishermen and they collected shells on the lake, Balu sank into the depth.
Fire service personnel and rescue from Varkala and Attingal Stations are immediately sent for rescue operations.
He was found and pulled out of the lake around 2pm.
He first rushed to a private hospital in Varkala and then went to Medical College Hospital Thiruvananthapuram.
But doctors cannot save their lives.
The health condition of other officers involved in the accident was stable, police said.
Two other teams, led by Inspector Anchuthengu and Kadakkavoor, also on the lake on other vessels looking for the backwater islands.
They have left for the island after receiving reliable information that Rajesh hid there.
The Head of the State Police Anil Kant revealed condolences in constant death while on duty.
As per the official statement, Balu became part of the police after completing his training in September this year.
He graduated in civil and economic techniques.
Balu and Ananthapadmanabhan were part of the SAP Constables unit sent to the Varkala police station a few days ago as part of providing additional police security for Varkala Sivagiri pilgrimage.
The district police authority said that the investigation was to find a situation that caused an accident.