Youth on trek goes missing near Bannerghatta

Mangalore Today News Network/The Hindu

Mangalore, July 16, 2012: A 24-year-old information technology (IT) professional went missing in the woods surrounding Bannerghatta National Park, where he had gone for a trek with his friends on Saturday.

Sathwik Shastry, a business analyst with Mu Sigma Business Solutions here, forayed into the forest area near Ragihalli on foot along with his friends Anupam Mannur and Ashish Shenoi on Saturday evening, parking their two-wheelers nearby.

Mr. Shenoi (24), who also works with an IT firm in the city, told The Hindu that Mr. Shastry broke away from the group around 6.30 p.m. to relieve himself behind some bushes while the other two went ahead. “When Sathwik did not join us for a while, we started calling out for him. We could not reach him on his mobile [phone] as there was no network coverage in the area,” Mr. Shenoi said.

His phone remained unreachable throughout the night. “We tried calling him on Sunday morning, but in vain. His phone was switched off… Even if he had taken shelter somewhere in the night, we hoped he would emerge out of the forests by morning,” said Mr. Shenoi, who knew his missing friend since they were eight.

Mr. Mannur (24), a research associate at the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, said they searched for about 45 minutes after he went missing.

After their efforts to trace him turned futile, the two friends reached Kasavanahalli around 8.30 p.m. and informed the locals, who in turn alerted the Bannerghatta police station. The police officials arrived at the village in an hour and picked up the duo.

Mr. Shastry’s mother, Usha Shastry, is a senior scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation while his father, Dinesh Shastry, runs his own auditing and network security firm in Bangalore. The father said they went to the spot on Sunday morning where forest officials had started the search. “They were unable to locate him throughout Sunday. The search will resume on Monday morning,” he said.

According to the police officials, the forest area from where he went missing was primarily an elephant-inhabited area.

Search on

Meanwhile, Principal Chief Conservator of the Forests and Head of the Forest Task Force A.K. Verma said Mr. Shastry’s disappearance was “mysterious”, and around 65 personnel would be deployed from 8 a.m. on Monday to continue the search.