A trek for a group of 12 dental students from the city in the picturesque Skandagiri in Chickballapur turned into a nightmare and landed them in the police station.
The police, and the Fire and Emergency Services personnel went into a tizzy after receiving a call from one of the trekkers, who informed them that he had been separated from the group.
These youngsters had started their trek in two groups at Skandagiri, a popular hillock among trekkers, about 60 km in the city. Incidentally, the Forest Department has restricted the entry to Skandagiri after a series of accidents.
Police sources said that Abhishek, one of the trekkers, lost his way and called the Fire and Emergency Services and said that he had lost his way. Immediately, the Fire and Emergency Services personnel informed the Chickballapur police who were half way through Skandagiri. Just as the police personnel were going to help him, the Fire and Emergency Services got a call stating that he had found his friends.
Once the trekkers reached the ground around noon, Chickballapur police registered against them a case under 188 of IPC for violating instructions of a public servant.
When trekkers trespass,the cops suffer the most
nother weekend, and another group of techies gets lost or lands up in a perilous position out in the wilderness.
On Saturday night, five techies decided to head out for a trek into Skandagiri. Despite the forest department saying that they would officially open up guided treks soon, this group just couldn't wait, and in their impatience landed them in hot water. Spotting forest guards, the group decided to take a different route in the hope they would not be spotted and found themselves hopelessly lost. An SOS was soon sent out to the fire department and the police.
Chikballapur police told Mirror that the group was split up and the two techies leading the group were soon separated from the other three. After spending more than five hours trundling around in circles they finally decided to call for help.
The news also reached the local police who rushed to the spot. By then, however, the techies had found their way back on to the main path, and the cops were left fuming. Cases of trespassing were booked against them, and the cops soon nabbed a group of seven doctors trying to follow in the techies' misleading footsteps. They too were slapped with trespassing charges.
But if you think it was the techies who went through a harrowing time out in the wild, spare a thought for the cops and emergency services who are called out every time someone with half a brain thinks he's Edmund Hillary or David Livingstone.
The police not only have to manage meager resources but also spend their valuable time searching for and rescuing people who should never have been where they ended up in the first place.
Police sources say that in most stations near tourist spots, they are understaffed and have to spend hours tracing people.
Police sources told Mirror: "We are used to these kinds of calls. We end up leaving all our work and heading to a hillock somewhere. Most of the time, we have to send our men to climb the hillock and rescue people. I don't understand why people want to risk their lives as well as trouble us by taking up such misadventures which are definitely uncalled for. When the forest department itself has announced that it would soon be opening trekking trails, why can't they wait till then.
On Saturday night, five techies decided to head out for a trek into Skandagiri. Despite the forest department saying that they would officially open up guided treks soon, this group just couldn't wait, and in their impatience landed them in hot water. Spotting forest guards, the group decided to take a different route in the hope they would not be spotted and found themselves hopelessly lost. An SOS was soon sent out to the fire department and the police.
Chikballapur police told Mirror that the group was split up and the two techies leading the group were soon separated from the other three. After spending more than five hours trundling around in circles they finally decided to call for help.
The news also reached the local police who rushed to the spot. By then, however, the techies had found their way back on to the main path, and the cops were left fuming. Cases of trespassing were booked against them, and the cops soon nabbed a group of seven doctors trying to follow in the techies' misleading footsteps. They too were slapped with trespassing charges.
But if you think it was the techies who went through a harrowing time out in the wild, spare a thought for the cops and emergency services who are called out every time someone with half a brain thinks he's Edmund Hillary or David Livingstone.
The police not only have to manage meager resources but also spend their valuable time searching for and rescuing people who should never have been where they ended up in the first place.
Police sources say that in most stations near tourist spots, they are understaffed and have to spend hours tracing people.
Police sources told Mirror: "We are used to these kinds of calls. We end up leaving all our work and heading to a hillock somewhere. Most of the time, we have to send our men to climb the hillock and rescue people. I don't understand why people want to risk their lives as well as trouble us by taking up such misadventures which are definitely uncalled for. When the forest department itself has announced that it would soon be opening trekking trails, why can't they wait till then.
Hence, we have taken the issue seriously and booking cases against them." Chikballapur Circle Inspector Balaji Singh said, "It is restricted area. Many times we try to stop people from entering but they just take another route. The worst part is that they try to enter the place at 2 am or 3 am. Whenever we get a call, we have to rush to the spot and then wake up the localites, as they are the only experts and head out for a rescue mission." In fact, this is the plight of cops across the state. The worst-affected seem to be those from Sathanur, under the jurisdiction of Sangama and Mekedaatu police.
"People know that the Cauvery waters are dangerous but yet they wade in and are washed away. Family members of the victims blame us. Every time, there is news, the police have to rush from Sathanur which is around 27 kilometres away. Many a times, we need to pay from our own pocket to find a localite to go on the search operation," added a police official.
This was the case recently at Savanadurga, when the police had to wait for hours requesting localites if they could scale Savanadurga to rescue a group of youths stuck there.
"We are not expert climbers. We get calls saying that I am struck at a place. However, we don't want to take any chances and hence, we had to call up our sources in Bengaluru to see who are the experts who can actually help us in the situation. Our men had to be at the place till the operation was over to oversee the rescue mission which went on till midnight," added another cop.
"People know that the Cauvery waters are dangerous but yet they wade in and are washed away. Family members of the victims blame us. Every time, there is news, the police have to rush from Sathanur which is around 27 kilometres away. Many a times, we need to pay from our own pocket to find a localite to go on the search operation," added a police official.
This was the case recently at Savanadurga, when the police had to wait for hours requesting localites if they could scale Savanadurga to rescue a group of youths stuck there.
"We are not expert climbers. We get calls saying that I am struck at a place. However, we don't want to take any chances and hence, we had to call up our sources in Bengaluru to see who are the experts who can actually help us in the situation. Our men had to be at the place till the operation was over to oversee the rescue mission which went on till midnight," added another cop.
Fire force rescues 5 trekkers
CHIKKABALLAPUR: Five youths from Bengaluru who went on a trek to Skandagiri hill, Chikkaballapur district, 68km north of Bengaluru, lost their way and spent a long nightmarish night before being rescued on Sunday afternoon. The incident underlines the perils faced by city youngsters who go on trekking expeditions in treacherous and prohibited locales around Bengaluru, without any expert guidance. Fire and emergency services personnel in the thick of rescue operations also spotted seven doctors interning at a government hospital in Bengaluru on their way up the hillock.
All 12 youths were taken to Chikkaballapur Rural police station, where they were arrested and released. The five Bengalureans, all MBA grads and managers with private companies, reportedly left the city Saturday midnight and reached Kalavara village, at the foot of Skandagiri hill or Kalavara betta, around 2am. According to police sources, foresters on night patrol had accosted the youths and warned them against continuing their trek.
However, the men, aged between 25 and 30, ignored all warnings and began walking towards the hill top. Two of them were ahead, while the other three remained behind. Soon, both groups lost contact with each other.
Their mobile phones were unreachable and it was only around 7am that one of the five youths managed to call 101 and alert fire and emergency services. The caller reportedly told the fire control room that he and his friends had lost their way and were unable to contact one another. Fire personnel reached the foothill around 8am and had a tough time locating the lost trekkers as their mobile signals were weak.
Around noon, fire personnel could locate the trekkers and guide them into ...
All 12 youths were taken to Chikkaballapur Rural police station, where they were arrested and released. The five Bengalureans, all MBA grads and managers with private companies, reportedly left the city Saturday midnight and reached Kalavara village, at the foot of Skandagiri hill or Kalavara betta, around 2am. According to police sources, foresters on night patrol had accosted the youths and warned them against continuing their trek.
However, the men, aged between 25 and 30, ignored all warnings and began walking towards the hill top. Two of them were ahead, while the other three remained behind. Soon, both groups lost contact with each other.
Their mobile phones were unreachable and it was only around 7am that one of the five youths managed to call 101 and alert fire and emergency services. The caller reportedly told the fire control room that he and his friends had lost their way and were unable to contact one another. Fire personnel reached the foothill around 8am and had a tough time locating the lost trekkers as their mobile signals were weak.
Around noon, fire personnel could locate the trekkers and guide them into ...
