Ramban youth untraced on day 5 of searches; SIT investigating case

Banihal, Apr 16: The search operation for a youth Tanveer Ahmad Chopan, who went missing after allegedly jumping into Nallah Bishleri near Makarkoot along the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway, entered its fifth day on Thursday with no breakthrough, officials said.

According to reports, the youth reportedly leapt into the fast-flowing stream on Sunday following an alleged  chase by miscreants. Since then, multiple rescue teams have been engaged in a massive search operation, combing the nallah and adjoining areas up to its confluence with the Chenab River.

Police said four persons have been arrested already and a SIT led by SDPO Banihal Surinder Singh Biloria is investigating the case. 

Despite strenuous efforts and risking their lives in deep gorges and turbulent waters, rescue personnel have so far failed to trace the missing youth. Officials said that teams have been thoroughly scanning both banks of the nallah as well as its deeper pockets.

Officials said that the Police and the Himalayan Quick Response Team (QRT) Ramsoo initiated the rescue operation immediately after the incident on Sunday. From Monday onwards, teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Banihal Volunteers (NGO), Civil QRT Ramban, QRT Khari, Red Cross, and a group of expert divers from Doda under the banner of Ababeel also joined the operation.

An official said that the search operation has now been expanded from the incident site at Makarkoot up to the Digdool and Battery Cheshma stretch. “Heavy machinery has been deployed to divert the flow of water at several deep points in Nallah Bishleri to facilitate the search in otherwise inaccessible areas,” he added.

Meanwhile, a proposed public rally titled “Justice for Tanveer,” announced by former NSUI president and senior Congress leader Advocate Feroz Khan along with his associates, was not permitted by the police on Thursday.

The rally, which was scheduled from Dak Bungalow Ramban to the Deputy Commissioner’s office, aimed to seek justice for the missing youth and to prevent such incidents in the future.

Organisers claimed that a large number of people from across the district were expected to participate in the peaceful march, but many were stopped from reaching Ramban. They also alleged that Advocate Feroz Khan from his office chamber was summoned to Police Station Ramban in the morning and informed that permission for the rally had been denied. He was later allowed to leave.