Three more rescue teams sent to locate eight missing trekkers in Kullu

The Indo -Tibet Border Police rescue teams, comprising eight soldiers each, will check if footprints found in the area belong to the group of SLIET students

The Kullu district administration on Sunday morning sent three additional Indo -Tibet Border Police (ITBP) rescue teams from Nagar, Jana and Bijli Mahadev to locate eight trekkers who had gone missing near Chanderkhani Pass in Parvati Valley last week.

The eight trekkers went missing near Chanderkhani Pass at Parvati Valley, Kullu district. (Aqil Kha/HT Photo)

The missing trekkers, seven of whom are students of the Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (SLIET) at Sangrur in Punjab, had reached the area on March 8. They were aided by Bharat Parkash, a former SLIET student hailing from Kullu.

The group lost contact with the police on Friday afternoon, and the district administration learnt about the matter when it was approached by Parkash’s family later that day.

Read: Seven students from Punjab, guide go missing in Kullu’s Parvati Valley during trek

Kullu superintendent of police Padam Chand told Hindustan Times that the three teams, comprising eight soldiers each, left at 5 am on Sunday. “On Sunday morning, a private heli-taxi hired to conduct a recce of the area from the Manali side found footprints again. The search teams have been asked to follow them and locate the missing trekkers,” he said.

“Bad weather is still a big hurdle. If the weather improves, we will be able to use helicopters and heli-taxis to locate them. Local trekkers, experts from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports in Manali, and local shepherds are engaged in the rescue operation,” Chand said.

The parents of the missing trekkers want the government to seek the help of the Army and the National Disaster Response Force.