Overview
- Advait Upadhyay, a 31‑year‑old cybersecurity professional from Indore who lived in Kadugodi and was due to marry in January, went missing after a solo trek to Shivagange on August 7 when his phone stopped answering.
- Nearly 100 personnel from the NDRF, SDRF, forest teams and police are searching the hill and using high‑resolution drones after one team flagged an object resembling a human body trapped in dense vegetation at the base of the steep Shantala Drop.
- Investigators recovered Advait’s mobile phone and his personal drone at the Shantala Drop area, and technical data show the phone briefly pinged near Kudur on Kunigal Road, away from the usual trekking route, before going offline.
- Forensic teams have seized his laptop from home and found searches about Shivagange, the Shantala Drop and suicide locations, findings that have led police to consider suicide as one possible explanation while keeping accidental fall and foul play on the table.
- Indore police have offered assistance to Karnataka authorities and teams are continuing difficult terrain access, digital forensics and on‑site verification of the drone sighting as investigators work to confirm whether the flagged object is Advait.