30-yr-old goes missing on Manali-Hamta trek

SHIMLA: A 30-year-old man from Delhi has gone missing in Kullu’s Hamta trek, the police said on Thursday.

The police along with friends of the missing man have started the search operation in the valley.

Akhil Chadda who was on the trekking expedition to the Hamta pass in Manali has been missing since April 10. Chadda was accompanied by 11 friends. “After trekking for 4-5 hours on Tuesday, Akhil decided to descend back to Manali citing no reason,” said Ishan Seth, one of his friends.

Akhil even handed over his phone to the other members of the group and started back to Manali and did not reach the base camp, police said.

“We have received a complaint of a missing man. As per the information, he was on way back to Manali from the midway of the Hamta pass,” Kullu superintendent of police (SP) Shalini Agnihotri said, adding that the police has started the search operation in the region.

Meanwhile, Akhil’s parents have also reached Kullu in his search.

Hamta pass lies at an altitude of 4,270m on the Pir Panjal range in the Himalayas. It is a pass between Lahaul and Kullu valley. The pass is emerging as a favourite destination among the adventure lovers.

“The pass trek is quite slippery and rocky. Earlier in 2017, a Mumbai trekker collapsed on the same trek,” said a cop, adding, “There are possibility that missing youth must have taken the wrong trek descending to Manali.”

AKHIL CHADDA, A DELHI RESIDENT, WHO WAS ON THE TREKKING EXPEDITION WITH HIS FRIENDS, HAS BEEN MISSING SINCE APRIL 10, POLICE HAVE LAUNCHED A SEARCH OPERATION