The body of a teenaged hockey player from Tamil Nadu who had gone missing from Marina beach on Saturday evening, washed ashore a day later.
According to police, 16-year-old S Prajeesh was a Class 11 student of Arignar Anna Govt Higher Secondary School at Coonoor.
He had arrived along with other boys, to participate in the under-19 hockey tournament at Nehru stadium.
Apparently, he and 10 other students went to Marina beach without informing their seniors, after playing a match on Saturday.
The seniors launched a search for them when their mobile numbers came not reachable.
After the seniors arrived at the beach, the boys allegedly told them that Prajeesh was missing.
Following this, they informed police and searched the entire beach but could not find Prajeesh.
Prajeesh’s parents, Sasikumar and Preeja, were informed and rushed to Chennai.
According to Manoj Kumar, who had come along with the players to the tournament, Prajeesh had played in the water for a while before returning to the shore.
“But when others got ready to leave, they found him missing. The boy had even informed his parents that he was going to the beach, but he did not tell us,” he said.
Marina police sent the body for post-mortem to Omandurar multi-speciality hospital.
Police said it was a case of drowning and further investigations are underway.