Kadapa: Many questions are being raised over the death of five men in the lake at Ontimitta in Kadapa district. What were the five men doing near the lake, and how did they drown? The police officials have confirmed the deceased were not from Kadapa district as no missing complaints were registered anywhere in the district. Villagers also confirmed that the deceased were not from the area.Officer on special duty (OSD) Adnan Nayeem Asmi told TOI that they suspect the five might be from outside the state. Asmi said that they are yet to ascertain whether the deceased were involved in red sanders smuggling. He also said that the deaths might have happened about two days ago. However, residents here say that all the deceased were Tamil, and were possibly employed by those involved in smuggling of red sanders.Though the police claim that no combing operation was done in the area two days ago, and that they did not come across any smugglers during that time. Asmi has said neither the taskforce nor any police agency conducted combing operations other than the regular vehicle checks on the highway.What remains a mystery is what forced the five men to enter into the water. One speculation that is doing the rounds is that the smugglers, in a bid to escape from the police, entered the lake and drowned. However, this argument is in contradiction the police claim that they did not conduct any combing operation.The examination of the spot also raises more doubts as backpacks and even footwear was intact on the bodies. Even if they were trying to escape from police or entered into the lake to go to other side, why would they enter the water wearing footwear, on as it is difficult for anyone either to walk or swim wearing footwear and carrying backpacks.Another doubt the locals express is that the water level is not so much as to drown a person. There are hopes that the postmortem, which will be done on Monday, will answer many questions, if not all of them.It may be recalled that the killing of 20 Tamil workers by special red sanders taskforce in Tirupati around three years ago at Tirupati had become a nationwide controversy. Though the police have intensified operations in Chittoor and Kadapa districts to curb smuggling, the culprits are finding new ways to enter the forest to smuggle the endangered red sanders.

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