Three days on, no trace of Shivagange solo trekker; last phone location off trail
Search intensifies for 31-year-old IIT-ian Advaith Upadhyay, missing since Friday’s climb near Bengaluru, as drones and disaster teams scour treacherous terrain
Three days after a 31-year-old man went missing trekking solo at Shivagange on the outskirts of Bengaluru, there is no trace of him yet.
Advaith Upadhyay, the son of a businessman in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, started the hike at Nelamangala taluk in Bengaluru Rural district on Friday (August 7). Upadhyay, an IIT alumnus with a master’s degree in cybersecurity, works for a finance firm in the IT city’s Whitefield neighbourhood.
According to the police, Upadhyay, who lives in Begur area, had informed his fiancée of his Shivagange trekking plan. He had also hired a motorcycle for the purpose.
CCTV footage shows he started climbing hill
Police have found out that he reached the foothills around 6.30 am on Friday and parked his rented bike before proceeding uphill. CCTV footage reportedly shows him climbing the 4,488-feet hill, but after that, police have drawn a nil. His mobile phone is reportedly switched off.
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His family reportedly suspects that he may have been kidnapped and harmed by robbers, noticing that he was alone. Following a complaint from his fiancee, a missing person’s case has been registered at Kadugodi police station and an extensive search operation, with rescue teams and high-resolution drones, has been launched to trace him across the rocky terrain.
Upadhyay was reportedly set to return by 4 pm. His fiancée, Prapti Chauhan, was reportedly expecting a call from him later in the day. However, when his mobile phone became unreachable by evening, she filed a missing person’s complaint with Kadugodi police around 7.30 pm. The couple are engaged to be married in January.
Phone signal shows he went off trail
The police launched a search at once, focusing primarily on Shantala Drop, a steep cliff near the summit. However, according to the police, his phone’s last recorded signal was not from the standard hiking trail.
When the initial search operation failed, the authorities on Sunday (August 9) deployed drones to scan the rocky sections that are difficult to access and a 15-member Karnataka State Disaster Response Force (KSDRF) team joined the operation too, zeroing in on risky and treacherous locations.
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The incident brings back memories of GS Sharanya, a 36-year-old software professional from Kerala, who went missing on a similar solo trek to Tadiandamol Peak in Kodagu district in April. She was rescued after three days, having lost her way on her way down and surviving on stream water in a dense patch of the forest.