3 days on, Kerala teen still missing in Karnataka's Chandradrona forest area

CHIKKAMAGALURU: Search operations for a 16-year-old girl from Kerala, who went missing in the Chandradrona Hills of Chikkamagaluru district, continued on Friday, officials said. The girl, identified as Srinandhana from Palakkad, had travelled to Karnataka with her family as part of a 40-member group. She was reported missing on Tuesday evening during a visit to a popular tourist spot in the hills. Police, along with teams from the forest department, fire and emergency services, and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), have been combing the area since Tuesday night. Despite extensive efforts, she had not been traced even after 48 hours, officials said. Thermal drone cameras have been deployed to aid the search, with teams focusing on dense and sensitive patches of the forested terrain. An officer said: “Rescue teams have spread out all over the region. All sensitive areas are being tracked.” According to Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Dayama, the girl had gone missing shortly after arriving at the site with her parents. He said, "Srinanda, a 15-year-old girl from Palakkad, Kerala, arrived in Chikkamagaluru with her parents last night. At around 5:30 pm, they visited the popular Manikyadhara Falls, where her parents realised she was missing. The matter was reported to the Peta Police Outpost. By around 8–9 am today, police and forest officials launched a search operation, using drone cameras to scan the area. The SDRF team also joined, and more than 60 personnel from the police department are involved. The search is still ongoing." Meanwhile, Karnataka Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment Eshwar Khandre has directed officials to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) for trekking safety. The instruction, issued to the chief wildlife warden, comes in the wake of recent incidents, including the disappearance of a woman from Kerala in the dense Tadiandamol forest and the ongoing search for the missing teenager in Chandradrona Hills, the minister’s office said in a statement.