Uttarkashi district administration deployed a helicopter on Sunday to search for 24-year-old woman trekker from Ramnagar in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district who went missing while camping on a meadow trek in Uttarkashi on May 29.
A multi-agency search operation involving the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), forest, police and revenue departments was launched on May 31 to trace the woman.
Later, the Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) joined them.
On Saturday, a team from the Uttarkashi-based Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM) also started searching for the woman.
The missing woman, Babita Pandey, an MBA student and Ramnagar resident, travelled to Uttarkashi with two friends late last month.
According to officials, the trio was camping at Goi campsite on the Dayara Bugyal trek route when she disappeared around midnight on May 29.
Uttarkashi district magistrate Prashant Arya said the woman’s companions informed authorities about her disappearance on May 30 after initially searching for her themselves.
“They told us that Babita stepped out of the tent around midnight and did not return. When they woke up the next morning and could not locate her, they searched the area before reporting the matter to police on May 30. Witnesses also said that she was last seen near the tent. So far, no trace of her has been found and there are no signs of a struggle at the site,” Arya said.
More than 150 personnel from the Army, ITBP, NDRF, SDRF, police, forest department, revenue department and disaster management teams have been deployed in the search operation. Local villagers familiar with the terrain are also assisting the teams.
“Sniffer dogs and drones have also been deployed in the search operation,” he said.
“Despite difficult terrain and challenging weather conditions, intensive searches are being carried out along the trekking route and other probable locations. A six-member specialised search team has also been constituted to intensify the operation,” Arya said.
“We have also deployed a chopper to expand our search in the nearby areas,” he said.
“On Saturday, NIM also sent a team to assist the search operation,” he said.
Meanwhile, the woman’s family raised suspicions regarding the role of her two friends who accompanied her on the trek.
Based on a complaint lodged by the family, the Uttarkashi police registered a first information report (FIR) against Harman Pal, a resident of Udham Singh Nagar, and Harman Preet, a resident of Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, under section 140(3) (kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on May 31.
Deepak Nautiyal, SHO at Maneri police station, said, “We are investigating the matter from all possible angles.”
