Like the Hollywood horror film Ghost Lake (2004), in which the restless souls of the drowned rise from the depths to claim new victims, the Deyyala Kunta (lake) in Jubilee Hills is now the most haunted spot in the city with a series of deaths. The locals are now living in fear of supernatural events. The Jubilee Hills police has warned people against swimming in the lake and has intensified patrolling. In the past two days, two mysterious deaths took place at the lake.
A man hanged himself on a tree near the lake on Saturday, and two days ago a body was found floating. During Holi two boys drowned in the lake. The lake is situated near the Padmalaya Studio in Jubilee Hills. Jubilee Hills inspector Narsinga Rao said, “On Saturday, a housekeeping employee of Apollo Hospitals named Suman of Filmnagar was found hanging on a tree. He had killed himself as he was forcibly married to a woman. We have shifted the body to his hometown Toopran.”
The police said another body was found in the lake and it has not yet been identified. “We are suspecting that the man who came here for swimming slipped and drowned.” Mr Suryanarayana a resident of Bharani Layout says, “We are in constant fear. The police should increase patrolling in the area and drive away anti-social elements. People from surrounding localities like BJR Nagar and Filmnagar come here to swim and booze. After these incidents the number of visitors has decreased. The lake has lots of bushes and it should be cleaned up and kept open.”
G. Rajesh a youth from Ambedkar Nagar says, “We used to come here for swimming. Today when we came here the locals and the police drove us away saying that there are frequent deaths.” One Manga who runs a laundry shop in the locality says, “We have stopped going near the lake due to fear of ghosts.”
Eswaramma who stays nearby said, “This place is isolated. There are many cases of suicides and drowning. We are extremely scared.”