The residents of Vontimitta in Andhra Pradesh's Kadapa district were in for a shock, when they found five lifeless bodies floating in a nearby lake on Sunday.
Kadapa SP Nagi Reddy confirmed to TNM that five bodies - all men- were recovered from the lake on Sunday afternoon.
According to him, all the bodies belonged to men, aged between 30 to 40 years.
"I got information about this about an hour back. All the bodies are bloated, so we haven't been able to ascertain their identities yet," the SP said.
Even as the incident has created panic in the area, the police is yet to identify the deceased.
Speaking to NDTV, the SP said that none of the bodies have any external injuries.
Visuals from the lake showed the bodies floating several meters away from each other.
Since the bodies were found floating in the lake, there has been speculation that the men may have been woodcutters from another state, brought in by red sanders smugglers.
However, the SP said that they have launched an investigation into the matter. He also dismissed speculation that the six men were killed in a shooting.
"There has been no such incident in my jurisdiction," the SP said.
Meanwhile, on Friday night, a shootout is reported to have taken place between the Special Task Force and red sanders smugglers at the Seshachalam forests. The STF opened fire after smugglers allegedly pelted stones at them, reports TOI. Five smugglers were nabbed by the Task Force, and were reported to be woodcutters from Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu.