Overview
- The disappearance on May 29 prompted a multi-agency operation after 23–24-year-old MBA student Babita Pandey went missing from the Goi Base Camp on the Dayara Bugyal trek.
- Search teams have expanded to aerial helicopter sweeps and targeted lake and marsh dives while about 120–150 personnel, drones and sniffer dogs continue ground combing of routes, ravines and dense forest.
- Uttarkashi police registered an FIR under Section 140(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and have detained Babita’s two companions for questioning following a complaint from her family.
- Tourism officials found no valid digital permits for the trio and say a Raithal-based trekking agency used a forged or expired permit, prompting suspension of the agency’s registration for fraud.
- Difficult high-altitude terrain, heavy local pilgrimage traffic and limited forensic or eyewitness leads have so far produced no trace of Babita and investigators warn searches and the probe may take more time.