Five young men have drowned in a temple pond in Chennai on Wednesday- April 5. The incident occurred while a group of men were performing a ritual. While the probe is on into the tragic incident, Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced solatium to the family of the victims and expressed condolences to the bereaving families. 

The incident happened at Dharmalingeshwarar temple in Muvarasampattu, Chennai. It has been reported that an idol procession was taking place at the temple as part of a festival. About twenty palanquin bearers carried the Shiva statue in an idol procession and at the end, they kept the idol on the bank of the temple pond and went to the pond to take a dip as per the rituals. 

After taking the dip, only 15 men had returned to the bank and after they realized that remaining five men were missing, they searched the missing men with the help of local residents. After their operation of locating them failed, they informed the Velachery fire station. Based on the information, the fire department personnel went to the spot and ended up recovering the bodies of five men who had drowned. 

The police department of Pazhavanthangal was informed about the incident and the officials rushed to the spot and sent the bodies to the Government Hospital in Chromepet to conduct an autopsy. The police have launched a probe into the incident and it was also said that the procession was conducted without prior permission.

Tamil Nadu Minister T M Anbarasan and Chengalpattu District Collector Rahul Nath visited the spot and inquired with the temple administration. While addressing the reporters, the Minister and the Collector said that the temple is not under the control of the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department and stated that the police would conduct a probe about whether the temple administration has acquired proper permission for the idol procession. 

Expressing condolences to the families of the victims, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced Rs 2 lakh solatium for the families of each victim. The demised people have been identified as Surya (24), Ragavan (18), Raghav (22), Vanesh (20), and Yogeshwaran (23).