Karnataka: Three on gold hunt enter Kolar Gold Fields sink, die

KOLAR GOLD FIELDS: Three persons who had trespassed into the defunct Bharat Gold Mines Limited at Kolar Gold Fields to pilfer scrap iron and leftover gold ore were suffocated to death in a sink late Wednesday night.
While the bodies of Kanda, 55, and Joseph, 45, were pulled out of the closed mine, the body of Kanda’s son Santosh, 20, is yet to be traced. All three are residents of Andersonpet in KGF.
According to police, Kanda, Santosh and three others hatched a plan to steal leftover gold from the sink.
Kanda and Joseph entered the sink at Hancock’s shaft using a rope at 8.30pm. A third person tried to follow them but on entering the sink, he found it difficult to breathe and shouted for help. His accomplices, who were standing above, pulled him out. He reportedly told them that he could not see the first two men who had entered the sink.
The trio then alerted Kanda’s son Santosh who rushed to the spot and jumped into the sink to search for his father. As Santosh too did not come out, the three persons standing near the sink informed police. Marikuppam cops rushed to the spot and summoned fire brigade personnel.
District fire officer Raghavendra said the trio would have died instantly owing to asphyxiation.
The sink is more than 3,000 feet deep. The fire brigade’s efforts to pump in oxygen into the sink did not yield results. Mines and geology department officials tried using a high-resolution camera to trace Santosh’s body, but in vain.
Haven for thieves
BGML, which contributed crores of rupees to the state exchequer, was closed down in March 2001. Since then, thieves have been desperately trying to loot its prized belongings.
There was a family in KGF and all its eight members, including the mother, were thieves and survived on leftover gold and scrap iron in and around BGML. The prominent person of the family, Thangam, was killed by KGF police in an encounter near Chittor. Later, two of his brothers were also shot dead by police.