Body of second trekker found near Bara Bhangal

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, July 8

The body of Aanchal Sood, who had gone on a trekking expedition and was missing, was reportedly recovered from a trench near Bara Bhangal today. Aanchal had gone missing on Saturday when he lost mobile contact with his family. He was working as an engineer with a multinational company in Pune.

A villager spotted a body on the Bara Bhangal trekking route buried under a landslide this afternoon. The body was in a decomposed condition and trapped in a trench. Villagers said it was difficult to extract the body as rocks were falling at regular interval at the site.

The Baijnath administration had been making efforts to trace him since Saturday. Three rescue teams were also sent to Bara Bhangal. Baijnath SDM Sunaina Sharma said an Air Force helicopter was also pressed into service, but because of bad weather it could not land at Bara Bhangal.

The rescue teams had told the SDM that it was difficult for them to bring the body to Palampur.

The SDM said keeping in view the present situation, Partap Chand, Aanchal’s father, had given his consent to cremate the body at the accident site. Therefore, the administration directed the rescue team to perform his last rites at the accident site with the help of the locals.

The body of another trekker Parkash Chand accompanying Aanchal had already been recovered near Bara Bhangal two days ago. Parkash had gone on a trekking expedition through a Delhi-based agency that organised such expeditions in the state.

Meanwhile, People’s Voice, an NGO, said no trekking was advised in July since there was regular landslides at high-altitude areas during the monsoon.

KB Rahlan and Neelam Sood, members of the NGO, said the agency who took Anchal for trekking in July should be booked. The NGO said those going on such risky expeditions should be insured by these agencies.