KULLU: An adventure motorcyclist from Hyderabad, Anil Marla, is missing in Himachal while riding solo from Padum in Ladakh’s Zanskar valley to Lahaul. The 42-year-old disappeared on July 19 and despite relentless search by SDRF, police and local volunteers in treacherous gorges and ice-cold streams, his fate is unknown.Rescue teams found his motorcycle, nearly in pieces, from a fast-flowing stream below Darcha-Shinku La road. His helmet, mobile phone and travel bag were also found.“The search must not stop till my husband is found,” said Anil’s wife, Sumita Sharma, who is presently in Lahaul.She told TOI that she last spoke with him on the phone on July 18 and they exchanged text messages the next morning. “On July 19, Anil told me that he was on his way from Padum to Lahaul. When I tried calling him later that afternoon, his phone was switched off. I kept trying but there was no response. The next day I got the news of his accident,” said Sharma.Anil’s motorcycle veered off the road near Sumdo Mod 3 and plunged into a steep gorge. Officials fear he may have been swept away by the fast-flowing mountain stream into Bhaga River, and the current could have carried him further downstream towards Tandi, where Bhaga and Chandra rivers meet to form the Chenab.“He is a very careful rider, not rash at all. There were witnesses who saw him fall. Police are helpful but I am being told again and again that the terrain is tough and such accidents keep happening on this road. If so, then there has to be some SOP to deal with the aftermath of such situations,” said Sumita.Teams have been scanning riverbanks of the valley, and drones are being used to check areas that cannot be reached safely on foot.“We have not found any trace of the missing biker. Our search operations are continuing with the help of police, SDRF and drone operators. Every effort is being made to locate him,” said Lahaul Spiti SP Shivani Mehla.Sumita said it’s her husband’s second trip to the remote region and that he was riding alone. Anil arrived in Kullu in May and hired the bike in Bhuntar. He spent some time in the valley before moving to Ladakh in July.Vinod’s family has appealed to the district administrations and police in Lahaul-Spiti, Kullu and Mandi in Himachal, as well as Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban in Jammu and Kashmir, to continue monitoring the river.
