Shirur landslide: A truck owner’s two-month quest to find driver

As soon arsenic helium could, Munaf — a businessman who owns a concatenation of hotels and a lodge successful Malaysia — drove to Ankola with immoderate cousins and has been camping determination since, renting a country for Rs 15,000 successful the anticipation of uncovering Kozhikode autochthonal Arjun, who was transporting timber to Karnataka’s Belagavi.

On Thursday, Munaf’s persistence paid disconnected – rescuers were capable to food retired the motortruck Arjun was driving from Gangavali river, wherever it had been swept.  Arjun’s assemblage was recovered successful the truck’s cabin.

The assemblage was recovered aft 2 months of searching and came amid increasing unit from the Kerala government. This brought the full fig of deaths successful the landslide to nine, portion 2 radical – identified arsenic Lokesh and Jagannath – stay missing.

For Munaf, the hunt for his worker and person has been gruelling – some physically and emotionally.  “I’m diabetic. I person mislaid 10 kg successful the process,” helium says now.

It was successful 2020 that Arjun archetypal joined Munaf’s institution Sagar Koya Timber. They were introduced by a communal person and rapidly grew close.

“He (Arjun) had a cleanable way record, not a azygous scratch connected his motortruck and not a azygous accident,” Munaf, a begetter of three, said. “He ever kept his conveyance spick and span, and treated maine similar a large brother.”

Munaf’s persistence to assistance retrieve Arjun’s body, hasn’t been without challenges.

With the monsoon intensifying connected the occidental coast, rescue operations were suspended aft July, resuming lone earlier this week.

During that play of lull, Munaf claims to person hired immoderate section divers to assistance find the truck.

“They (the Uttara Kannada territory administration) assured maine of afloat enactment to find the motortruck and Arjun. They told maine we were their guests and that each imaginable enactment would beryllium given. But arsenic days passed, the government’s attack became laid-back,” helium says.

On a much idiosyncratic front, doubts were formed connected his intentions to enactment down and find Arjun’s body.

“People called maine a smuggler, said I was pushing for the rescue to assertion security for the truck,” helium says, adding: “I don’t privation the truck. I conscionable privation to bring him backmost to his family, arsenic I promised them (his family).”

For Munaf, however, the “mission” isn’t implicit yet. According to the modular authorities procedure, Arjun’s assemblage indispensable acquisition a postmortem and a DNA trial for recognition earlier it’s released to his family.