Body of Hyderabad trekker who went missing, found in Maharashtra

A trekker who was reported missing by her family in Hyderabad, was found dead in rural Panvel in Maharashtra on Monday.

The Times of India reported that Rachita Gupta Kanodia (27), was found dead with multiple injuries at a popular trekking route.

The report adds that she was an adventure buff who had traveled alone to Panvel on November 25 for a three-hour-long trek to get to the old Prabalgad fort. 

Her body was said to have been found on a cliff, roughly a 100 feet from the peak.

"In September this year, Kanodia had successfully climbed Prabalgad as part of a trekkers' group. But, when she returned on November 25 to do the same trek, she was alone. She traveled by air from Hyderabad to Mumbai and took a taxi from the airport to reach Panvel's Thakurwadi to begin the trek. It takes over three hours to reach the fort atop it," senior inspector of New Panvel police station, Maloji Shinde, told TOI. 

Kanodia was expected to return home by November 29, but didn't make it.

According to reports, her body was swollen, suggesting that it was there for a few days.

"She had gone directly to Thakurwadi, the tribal village at the foothills of Prabalgad from the airport on Nov 25. Just about 10-15 minutes after started climbing the fort she sent her location to her husband Amit Kanodia over WhatsApp. That proved to be her last contact. We participated in the rescue operation taken up by police on Tuesday morning. We started the operation at around 4 AM. We took 5 local tribal youth along with seven of our members and started search operation in the jungles in the crest region and found her body by 11.30 AM," Parag Sarode of 'Nisarga Mitra' - the trekker's group in Panvel that participated in the rescue operation told The New Indian Express.

Kanodia's husband, Amit Kumar told the Deccan Chronicle that his wife was an avid trekking fan. 

“For the past six months she has been into trekking, guided by her mentor Vivek Gupta. It was her passion. She might have slipped while climbing the hill,” he told the newspaper.