Overview
- Advait Upadhyay, a 31-year-old Bengaluru-based tech professional from Indore, went missing after a solo trek to Shivagange on Friday, August 7, with CCTV confirming his ascent but no footage of his descent.
- Search teams scouring the hill recovered Upadhyay’s shoulder bag and sweater at the restricted Shantala point and later used high-resolution drones that captured an object resembling a human body below the Shantala Drop that rescue crews have not yet reached because of rain and slippery terrain.
- Police and multi-agency teams including the NDRF, SDRF, forest and fire services are continuing systematic drone, thermal and ground searches across inaccessible gullies and cliffs while weather repeatedly hampers access.
- Investigators have seized and examined his laptop and phone records and say they found AI and web queries about Shivagange, the hill’s height and the effects of a fall, findings that have led police to probe a possible suicide but have not produced a conclusion.
- Family members and some investigators continue to consider kidnapping or an accident because Upadhyay’s rented motorcycle stayed at the foothills and his phone’s last signal was traced to a location off the usual trekking route, and police are reconstructing his movements and checking CCTV and call records to resolve the case.