Moodbidri: Young entrepreneur, farmer killed while on hunting trip

Moodbidri, Mar 23: Two men, who had entered a forest in Karinje on the outskirts of Moodbidri for hunting earlier this week, were found dead yesterday under mysterious circumstances.

Vivian Gratian Rodrigues (34), a resident of Prantya near Karinje and Praveen Tauro (32), a resident of Karenje had allegedly gone for hunting last Tuesday night without informing their families. 

Gratian Rodrigues was an entrepreneur and ran service station in Moodbidri, while Praveen was a farmer and also worked as driver.

The family members started searching for them as they disappeared after Tuesday night. Their phones were not reachable. On Wednesday evening they filed missing complaint at jurisdictional Moodbidri police station.

Police who started the investigation, found their SUV parked near the foothills of Karinje on Thursday. A massive hunt was launched to search for the missing duo by teams of police and Moodbidri forest department. 

Dog squad was also pressed into service. Around evening, their bodies, which were swollen, were found in a paddy field close to forest border area, police said.

The cause of death yet to be ascertained and no visible wounds were found on their body. FSL experts were called into the spot. It is suspected that they might have lost their lives after coming in contact with a live electric wire. Investigation is on.