Three men drowned in the Pennar river while shooting a short film in Andhra Pradesh's Kadapa district on Sunday evening, police said on Monday.
The victims were identified as Haribabu (25) and Harshavardhan (22) and Krishna Chaitanya (20). According to police, while the two of them were recovered late on Sunday night, the body of Krishna was retrieved on Monday morning.
"We have registered a case of accidental death and sent the bodies to the local government hospital for post mortem," Vallur sub-inspector of police Sivanagi Reddy said.
Reddy said a group of eight youth from Kadapa, Annamayya and Chittoor districts had formed a team under the banner "Frontline Press" and were engaged in making short films at Pushpagiri village.
The group had arrived at the village for a shoot on Sunday morning.
"While three members stayed back in the village, the remaining headed to the river. Two of them remained at a safe distance, but three others Haribabu, Harshavardhan and Krishna Chaitanya, entered the water. Unaware of the depth in the riverbed, they reportedly ventured into a deep stretch and drowned," the sub-inspector said.
On receiving information from those present at the scene, police launched a search operation with the help of expert swimmers. The bodies of Haribabu and Harshavardhan were retrieved, while the search for Krishna Chaitanya was halted due to nightfall.
"The third body was recovered on Monday morning," he said.
According to the preliminary investigations, Haribabu, a resident of Viswanathapuram in Kadapa, was working as a temporary employee at a homeopathy college.
Harshavardhan, also from Kadapa, was a fourth-year engineering student at KSRM College, while Krishna Chaitanya was also a second-year B-Tech student at the same college.
Other members of the group included Suresh from Madanapalle in Annamayya district, Sai Manoj from Kuppam in Chittoor district, and Bhagavan, Firoz and Ashraf from various parts of Kadapa district.
The group had reportedly come together through Instagram and collaborated to produce short films, police said.
"The river stretch near Pushpagiri is highly dangerous due to strong undercurrents and whirlpools. We have placed multiple warning boards and regularly caution visitors. Despite this, many youths enter the river without knowing how to swim and get trapped in whirlpools," Reddy said.
