A trekker from Bengaluru, Sathyanarayan Venkatachari has gone missing from Himachal. He was last traced at Wangtu in Kinnaur district on 25 July.
With no contact with him for over a month, his family and friends have spared no efforts in trying to reach out for help to trace the missing trekker.
His wife Anuradha and family friend Kishore Reddy on Sunday reached the Kinnaur district headquarters Rekong Peo and met the Superintendent of Police of the district, Sakshi Verma who has assured help.
“Satyanaran had last called on 25 July around 8.00 a.m. and since then we have lost touch and nothing is known about him” said Anuradha told media.
An online missing complaint has been lodged to the SP Kinnaur around 24 August and we have reached Rekong Peo to seek the assistance from various people other than the police and other informal network that include trekkers, local people and travelers, said Kishore Reddy.
“We are also trying to seek help from the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Kinnaur for any possible rescue operations,” he said.
An seasoned and avid trekker, Sathyanarayan worked with US based multinational company Texas Instruments at Bengaluru and had taken a break for trekking, maintained Reddy.
A resident of Reckong Peo and proprietor of a travel agency Chander Mohan Negi said, “Friends of Sathyanarayan are trying to locate his whereabouts and seeking help through word to mouth as well as social media. I too was communicated to try to chip in to help.
According to an update, Sathyanarayan was intended to Ropa Valley in Kinnaur to Mane in Spiti and we are approaching all concerned to help through their own networks, he added.
Vikram Malik, another trekker from Gurgaon and a friend of Sathyanarayan who was to meet him at Manali on 2 August said, “Sathyanarayan had contacted him last on 25 July from Wangtu in Kinnaur district. As the call was short his future plan for the week that was still to go before we met at Manali was not communicated. We had planned to undertake a trekking trail to Pangi in Chamaba district.”
There is a speculation that he must have headed towards other trekking routes in Kinnaur district to utilise one weeks time before reaching Manali, he added.
“Since he was a well known trekker, we are seeking help from the trekking fraternity and reaching out to them for help. We also fear that the recent rains may have hampered his trekking,” he said.
Prior to 25 July, Sathyanarayan had met some trekkers at Kaza while he was covering the trekking route in Spiti, said Malik.
