2 youth killed, one injured as trekking trip turns fatal, in Verinag

Anantnag, July 23:

Two youth were killed and one was seriously injured after the trio fell into a crevice, while they were trekking towards Banihal – across the Jawahar Tunnel – from the Verinag area of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

The deceased have been identified as 26-year-old Muhammad Imran Khan, son of Abdul Salam, a resident of Verinag, and 18-year-old Aqib Wani, son of Tariq Ahmad, a resident of Dolegam Banihal.

The third one, wounded grievously, has been identified as 18 Muzammil Sheikh, son of Nazir Ahmad, also a resident of Dolegam, Banihal. The incident took place late Thursday evening in the Hallan area, over the Pir Panjal hills, the Jawahar tunnel cuts through.

Local sources told Kashmir Reader that the three of them were on the way to Banihal from Verinag when the mishap occurred. “They had decided to trek to Banihal, instead of traveling by road. Unfortunately, they slipped and fell into a crevice,” a local source told Kashmir Reader.

Two of them had probably died on spot, the sources said, while the injured one raised hue and cry, grabbing the attention of some members of the Gujjar community, living nearby.

“It was the nomads who then called people in Hallan village following which a rescue team rushed to the spot,” the sources said, “Two bodies were retrieved from the crevice, while the injured was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital,”

Muzammil Sheikh was later rushed to GMC Hospital in Anantnag where he is undergoing treatment and is stated to be in a stable condition. “Bodies of the deceased have been handed over to their families following medico-legal formalities,” a senior police official from the area said.

Pertinently it is the same track on which three laborers were killed in April last year, while they were trying to trek back home to Banihal, as the Jawahar tunnel remained closed in wake of the Covid lockdown.

“The three of them were killed on the Banihal side of the mountains while these two today have been killed on the Verinag side,” the police official said

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.