Kozhikode: The body of the youth who went missing in the sea while casting a fishing net was recovered on Monday morning. The deceased – Mohammed Shafi (45) of Koyambranta from Chelary, near Calicut University, Malappuram, went missing at the Sand Banks in Vatakara, Kozhikode on Sunday morning. The body was spotted around 9.30 am on the beach side at Kolavippalam area by a team of fishermen who were searching for Shafi in a small boat.

Coastal police and Marine Enforcement had launched a search operation for Shafi on Sunday, soon after he went missing. Shafi and his friends were fishing when he was swept away by a strong wave. “Though he tried to swim to the banks and his friends threw a rope, he could not hold onto it. Though a team of fishermen went into the sea in a boat to rescue him, he had drowned,” Shafi's friend Safeer, who was with him at the time of the incident, told Onmanorama.

Coastal police used their rescue ship and helicopter to find Shafi. They focused on the area between the Sand Banks and Moorad Bridge. The area is too risky because of the undercurrents, said an official who was part of the search operation.
The body has been shifted to the mortuary in Vatakara Taluk Hospital. Shafi is survived by his wife and three kids.