Overview
- Advait Upadhyay, a 31-year-old cybersecurity professional, went missing after a solo trek to Shivagange on August 7 when CCTV showed him beginning the climb and he failed to return.
- High-resolution drones on Wednesday flagged an object resembling a human body in dense vegetation below the restricted Shantala Drop and rescue teams are trying to reach the location.
- Searchers have recovered a sweater, a shoulder bag and a drone near the cliff and traced Upadhyay’s phone to Kuduru on Kunigal Road before it was switched off after a brief period of activity.
- Police say forensic examination of his laptop found searches about Shivagange and ‘suicide locations around Bengaluru’ while call records show multiple personal contacts, so investigators are keeping suicide, accident and foul play open.
- Nearly 100 personnel from NDRF, SDRF, forest and police units plus specialist climbers are working in rainy, slippery terrain to confirm and recover what the drone spotted and authorities in Indore have offered assistance to Karnataka police.