Mohan Kuthar
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Feb 25: Even after ten days since a man and his young son went missing from near Netravati bridge, no clues have surfaced about what happened to them. A death note recovered from the car found abandoned at the spot had indicated that the duo would have ended life by jumping into the river. On that basis, detailed search operation was conducted by expert divers for five days but no information or evidence about the two could be gathered.
Gopalakrishna Rai (55) from Balthila in Bantwal, and his son, six-year-old Nameesh Rai, had disappeared under mysterious circumstances since the early hours on February 16.
Gopalakrishna Rai, a hotelier having his business interests at Mumbai, and his wife had come to their native place to participate in the Paichil Nema of the village that was held near the family home at Pavooruguthu. Gopalakrishna, who was present at the Nema, had left with his son after midnight in a car. There were no clues where he went. His wife, Ashwini Rai, filed missing case in Konaje police station after efforts to find him failed. At the same time, the Maruti WagonR car in which Rai had left with his son was found abandoned on Netravati bridge. An eight-page death note, footwear of Nameesh, Rs 6,000 in cash and liquor bottle were found from the car. In the death note found in the car, Rai had written that he is the sinner who had killed his son and that he had betrayed his wife. The death note also
contained many other details. Local divers and swimmers, boat owners, Coast Guard, fire fighters and others undertook detailed search for the two but their efforts did not bear any fruit.
The search was conducted after waiting for 24 hours since the two went missing, as usually bodies get deposited on the riverbank by then. With the help of technology, search was also conducted deep down the river but this method too did not yield any result. The family is deep in grief. The case has posed a huge challenge to the personnel of Konaje and Mangaluru rural police stations.