7 teens get lost in national park, rescued after night-long search

7 teens get lost in national park, rescued after night-long search

A recklessly adventurous trek undertaken by seven youngsters in Sanjay Gandhi National Park on Sunday turned into a nightmare for them and many others. Out to “enjoy waterfalls”, the teenagers lost their way in the dense forest and were traced around 16 hours later after a prolonged search operation by over two dozen officials and cops.
    The youths, all residents of Mulund, began their hike into the national park at 12noon from near Pratap Singh Garden at Yogi Hills in Mulund (West). For an hour or two, all was well as they ventured deeper and deeper into the forest. But then between 2pm and 3pm, one youth, 18-year-old Wasim Hussain, got separated and got lost. The remaining six searched for Hussain and, in the attempt, lost their way too. Their situation worsened as their cellphones lost signal.
    Around7.30pm, a youngster in the group, Kalpesh Singh (19), found signal again on his mobile phone. “I managed to call my mother. I told her what had happened and asked her to send help,” Singh said in his statement. The teen’s mother Renuka called the police control room and some relatives and rushed to Mulund police station. Responding with alacrity, senior inspector Jivajirao Jadhav at the station assembled a search party of inspector D J Patil and 14 other cops. He also enlisted the help of 10 relatives of Singh. Finally, he called forest department officials Rokdeshwar Gavane and Madhukar Mahajan, who sent 15 staffers for the search.
    Around the same time, the police managed to track Singh’s mobile signal to a spot deep in the forest. “We asked the six teenagers to stay at their location, which was near the Bhoot Bungalow that is situated on a hill between Tulsi and Vihar lakes. They had managed to locate Hussain by then,” said Jadhav. “Around 4am on Monday, the seven teenagers were rescued.”
    The rescued youths were given a warning by the police and handed over to their families. Officials said the teens were lucky not to encounter any leopards. “Despite repeated warnings, youngsters continue to sneak into the forest. During the rains, many of them get lost,” said an official.  

 

NARROW ESCAPE
Officials said the youths had wandered into leopard territory. The seven are lucky they did not encounter any big cats, particularly given that there have been several leopard attacks in the Mulund area in the not too distant past: 

 
NOV 5, 2012 | An unidentified man was found dead in Mulund. Police called it a leopard attack JULY 15 | Seven-year-old Sanjana Thorat was attacked when she went to relieve herself. Her head was found the next day  

HAVE A SAFE JOURNEY 

 
RESCUE EFFORT A sizeable team was formed to trace the lost youngsters. It comprised around 15 forest department officials, 15 policemen from Mulund police station, and 10 relatives of one of the youths 

 
WAY TO GO 

Dos and don’ts if you are planning a trip into Sanjay Gandhi National Park ENTRY POINTS | The main entrances to the forest are at Borivli, Manpada and Yeoor. But people frequently go in from places where the boundary wall is missing. Officials pointed out that those not using the three marked
    entrances are not only putting their
    lives in peril but also trespassing
    UNDER GUIDANCE | It is more
    prudent to undertake a trek in the
    national park with a forest guard
    or a guide. Besides providing safety, they rule out the possibility of trekkers losing their way. A guide can be engaged from any of the main entrances
MARKED TRAILS | Using the main entrances is also advisable since they lead to trekking trails—such as Bamboo Hut and Highest Point trails—with well-marked paths

1
Seven friends
from Mulund enter the national park on Sunday afternoon for a trek. An hour into the hike, one of them, Wasim Hussain, gets lost

2
^The
remaining six search for Hussain, but in the attempt they too lose their way. They are left all the more helpless as their cellphones lose signal

3
Around 7.30pm,
one youth, Kalpesh Singh, gets signal on his mobile. He calls up his mother, who alerts the police and several relatives

4
^By
tracking Singh’s mobile signal, the police trace him to a spot deep in the forest. Singh and others are directed to stay at the same place

5
A team of cops, forest officials and Singh’s kin locate the lost youths at 4am on Monday. They said Hussain had reunited with the others at some point

The seven youths entered the national park from near Pratap Singh Garden (marked A in the map above) in Mulund. They were found about 8 kilometres inside, at a hilly spot called Mama Bhanja Tekdi (marked B) that falls between Tulsi and Vihar lakes

The seven teens went into SGNP from near a garden in Mulund. The same spot was seemingly being used by others (above) on Monday