Kullu: There is still no trace of a 24-year-old Jharkhand student who went missing during a solo trek to Malana in Himachal Pradesh, more than a month after he disappeared in the forests of Kullu.Sukant Guin, a third-year student at DAV Ayurvedic Medical College in Jalandhar, left his hostel on Aug 7 without informing his family and reached Kullu the next day. His father, Subir Guin, said the family later learnt from the hostel gatekeeper that Sukant had left around 4.30pm, saying he was headed for Kullu.Sukant had spoken to his mother on Aug 4 about travelling somewhere after his exams. His parents advised him against travelling alone because of the monsoon.He travelled by bus to Kullu, took a vehicle to Naggar and began trekking from Rumsu towards Chandrakhani and then Malana. On Aug 8, he posted a photograph of an old house in Naggar on Snapchat.His last confirmed sighting was on the morning of Aug 9, when a local trekker spoke to him. His phone was switched off when his mother called that evening.Sukant’s father reached Kullu on Aug 18 via Delhi and lodged an FIR at Patlikuhal police station. Police and SDRF teams launched searches, while the family hired private teams. A Jalandhar team also searched for three to four days. Teams searched mountain routes towards Malana, but found no trace.Chhape Ram Negi, a veteran search and rescue expert from the Parvati valley, said his team searched the entire route from Rumsu to Malana via the Chanderkhani Pass, at an altitude of around 3,700 metres.“There are only two possibilities. Either he fell off while trekking towards Malana or was attacked by an animal, a bear perhaps,” Negi said.He urged trekkers, particularly those unfamiliar with the region, not to venture into the mountains alone and to hire local guides.Sukant’s father said his son was a regular solo trekker and had previously travelled to Kullu and Himachal. “We are trying all possible ways to locate Sukant. He is my only child. It’s been over a month since he disappeared… I am still hoping he would be found,” Guin said.Kullu SP Abishek S said the terrain was “extremely difficult”. “There are vast stretches of forest and mountains. In some cases, despite the best search efforts, the missing person is not found,” he added.‘Ban trekking if govt can’t prevent disappearances’Guin urged the Himachal govt to ban trekking in Kullu if it cannot put measures in place to prevent people from going missing. He claimed more than 100 people had disappeared in the Parvati valley over the past decade and sought a system to track trekkers entering and leaving the area.
