A four-day intensive search for a 14-year-old girl from Kerala ended in tragedy on Saturday morning when her body was discovered in a deep valley in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru district. Sri Nanda, a Class 10 student from Palakkad, had gone missing during a large family excursion to the Chandradrona hill range.
The discovery has left the family devastated and raised questions regarding the circumstances of her disappearance.
Timeline of the Incident
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April 7, 3:00 PM: Sri Nanda arrived in Chikkamagaluru with a group of approximately 40 relatives after visiting Hampi.
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April 7, Evening: The group traveled by private jeeps to the Chandradrona hills for a hike.
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April 7, 6:00 PM: As dusk fell, the girl was last seen near the Manikyadhara viewpoint. She became separated from the group and vanished.
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April 11, Morning: Search teams located her body in a valley, roughly 1,500 feet below the spot where she was last seen.
The Search Operation
The Karnataka police launched a massive operation involving:
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Difficult Terrain: Rescue teams used ropes to rappel down steep, forested ghat sections.
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High-Tech Tools: Drone surveillance with thermal cameras was deployed to scan the dense canopy during the night.
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Community Effort: Local authorities and family members combed the area for 96 hours before the body was spotted.
Suspicion and Investigation
While the location of the body suggests a fatal fall, the family has raised concerns about foul play.
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Kidnapping Claims: Relatives expressed suspicion that she may have been abducted, citing the presence of other visitors in the popular tourist area.
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Official Stance: Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara noted that while kidnapping is an “argument” being investigated, police are also looking into whether she simply lost her footing in the dark.
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Forensic Steps: Police have seized the mobile phones of the girl’s parents to check for any digital clues and are awaiting post-mortem results to determine the exact cause and time of death.
A Tale of Two Treks
This incident comes just days after a similar disappearance in the region ended more fortunately. GS Sharanya, a 36-year-old IT professional from Kerala, went missing for four days while trekking Thadiyandamol peak in Kodagu. Unlike Sri Nanda, Sharanya was rescued alive after surviving on water while lost in the dense forest.
