ALAPPUZHA: A pall of gloom filled the air at Poojaveli, the coastal hamlet in Muhamma panchayat, as the news of the tragic death of four members of a percussion troupe, reached here.Binu, Sakesh, Sudhiraj and Manikuttan who met with a tragic end at Vellikulam near Vagamon hailed from this small village. They had taken up percussion as a part-time job. The team was returning after performing at the Idukkipara temple as part of the Sivarathri celebrations on Monday.Sakesh, 17, was a plus-two student of AB Vilasam HSS, Aaryakkara. His brother Sagar, who was also in the team, suffered minor injuries. Sakesh is survived by mother Sajin and brothers Sagar and Sachin. His father died two years ago. Sudhiraj, 14, was a class IX student of Government Sanskrit HS, Charamangalam.He is survived by father Thilakaraj and mother Lalitha. Binu, 19, of Vadekke Thalakkal, joined the team eight years ago. He is survived by father Babu and mother Sukumari.Manikuttan, 40, was one of the master players in the group. He was a make-up man for ‘thookkam’ and other temple rituals. He is survived by wife Anitha and daughters Aswathi and Arunima.The bodies of the deceased were brought to Puthanangadi at 4 pm and kept for the public to pay their last respects. Later the bodies were taken to their home and cremated.Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan visited the houses of the deceased.The Alappuzha District Collector has announced a compensation of Rs 5,000 to the families of the deceased and Rs 2,000 for the injured persons.The PKR Chenda Melam group is a leading troupe in Alappuzha. The late P K Raghavan was the founder of the team. His grandson Praveen is currently managing the group.
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