Four tourists from Kerala, including a woman, were stranded an entire night alone on an island off Malpe without food, after they missed the last boat to return, police said.
Jastin (34), Sheeja (33), Josh (28) and Harish (17) from Kochi took the boat of the Malpe Beach Development Committee to St Mary's island at around 12.30 PM on Saturday.
After reaching there, they visited another small island in the vicinity.
But they could not reach St. Marys Island on time and missed the last boat that left at 6.45 PM as the water level increased.
Meanwhile, the boat operators were unaware about the missing tourists, police at Malpe said.
The tourists, without food, spent an entire night alone on the island before the first boat reached there at 7.30 AM the next day.
The boat operators immediately informed police, who verified the identity cards of the tourists, the tickets they purchased to visit St Marys Island and railway tickets
They then contacted their counteparts in Kerala to verify the information collected from the tourists.
Udupi District Superintendent of Police Nisha James said the incident exposed the negligence of the contractors who had bagged the boat services to St Marys Island and added that an explanation would be sought from the Malpe Beach Development Committee.
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