Navi Mumbai: A 21-year-old youth, a house painter, residing in Ambernath, who had gone to the Matheran hills for a monsoon picnic with his friend, died after falling into the gorge at Alexander Point’s cliffside view on Friday around 3.30 pm. His body was retrieved from the gorge at about 1500 feet after an 11-hour search operation. Prima facie, Matheran police have registered an accidental death report.Sarita Musale, senior inspector of Matheran, said that the deceased youth was identified as Sonu Gautam. His friend, who is also a house painter and was accompanying him, said that while he was talking on the mobile at some distance at Alexander Point, Gautam was viewing nature’s beauty by standing close to the cliff. Within two minutes, as his friend turned around, he saw Gautam falling off the cliff into the gorge. His friend informed the Matheran police and showed the spot from which Gautam had fallen into the gorge or else it would have been difficult to trace his body.Inspector Musale said, “To retrieve the body of Gautam from the deep gorge, the members of the professional Matheran Sahayadri Rescue Team were summoned. The rescuers climbed down the gorge using ropes and harness belts. The heavy rains created obstacles in the search operation that lasted for around 11 hours, after which the rescuers spotted Gautam’s body at about 1500 feet in the gorge and carried the body to the top of the hill. Gautam’s body was handed over to his kin, who have not suspected any foul play and hence have not lodged any complaint.
