'U'khand police begins fresh search operation near Kedarnath '

Dehradun, Oct 12 (PTI) The Uttarakhand Police Friday launched a fresh operation in areas adjoining Kedarnath in search of the skeletal remains of the victims of massive floods and landslides that lashed the region in 2013, officials said.

The operation is in accordance with an order of the Uttarakhand High Court passed in 2016 that asked the state government to conduct fresh searches in the tragedy-hit area to find if any more remains were lying hidden.


Led by SP rank officers, police teams comprising 35 members have gone deep into the jungles around the shrine in search of the remains of people who went missing after the deluge, Additional Director General (law and order) Ashok Kumar said. The teams will comb the stretch between Gaurikund and Kedarnath on different routes including Kalimath and Trijuginarayan, the official said. The hight court had issued directives on a PIL that contended that despite the state government admitting around 3,500 persons had gone missing after the devastating deluge, only 450 bodies had been recovered. 

Thirty-one skeletons were recovered from the forests near Trijuginarayan area in Rudraprayag district in October 2016, more than three years after the calamity.