Shirur landslide: Kerala truck driver Arjun's body recovered after 72 days

KARWAR: After more than two months of a gruelling search, the body of Arjun, the lorry driver from Kerala who went missing along with his vehicle after a devastating landslide struck Shirur village in Uttara Kannada, was finally recovered along with the vehicle from Gangavalli river here on Wednesday.

The search team located the cabin of the Bharat-Benz lorry transporting wood, from which Arjun's decomposed body was recovered. It was sent to KRIMS for a DNA test.

Arjun had gone missing while driving a Bharat Benz truck carrying timber from Belagavi to Kozhikode along the Panavel- Kanyakumari NH- 66 when the disaster struck. It is believed that Arjun had stopped the vehicle near the tea shop of Lakshman Naik to take rest as he used to during his trips.

The cabin of the lorry was crushed in the impact of the landslide.

Arjun's brother-in-law Jithin and truck owner Manaf who were present at the spot broke down on seeing the mangled cabin of the truck being pulled up by the crane.

Two other persons, Jagannath Naik and Lokesh Naik, who also went missing after the landslide, are yet to be found. Jagannath's family has demanded that the search operations continue until the duo are traced.

The search for Arjun was unprecedented for its length and the effort put in by multiple agencies including Navy, Army, Karnataka SDRF and experts from NIT and private firm which had helped with drone search using IBOD technology.

Karwar MLA Satish Sail, who has been overseeing the operations, confirmed that the search will continue until the two remaining persons are found and the mud clogging Gangavalli river is cleared.

On July 16, a massive landslide struck Shirur village, Ankola taluk, killing 11 people, while two trucks slid into Gangavalli river from National Highway 66.

The operations were repeatedly disrupted by heavy rains and strong currents in the river.

The second phase of the search which was halted due to heavy rains and inclement weather on Aug 16 recommenced on Saturday after Karnataka govt agreed to bear the over Rs 1 crore cost for bringing in dredgers and barges from Goa. After three days of dredging, one of the two submerged trucks, belonging to Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, was found.

(With inputs from Rajeev K R in Kozhikode)


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