Bengaluru Techie Missing From Shivaganga Hills; Police Search Underway With Drones

Bengaluru, Aug 10: A 31-year-old techie, who was on a trek has gone missing from Shivaganga hills in Tumakuru district, which is around 70-kms from Bengaluru.

A 60-member team, including Bengaluru Rural police, SDRF personnel and Kadugodi police have been searching for Advaith Upadhyey, a resident of Kadugodi in Bengaluru city, using high resolution drones and other equipment.

Advaith, a software professional from Indore, Madhya Pradesh has been working in Bengaluru for the last four years. He was living in Mythri layout with his fiancee and had gone on a rental motorcycle to Shivaganga hills alone for trekking. When his phone was not reachable since Friday afternoon, his fiancee lodged a complaint with the Kadugodi police.

The search team on Sunday found Advaith's shoulder bag and sweater at Shanthala Point, which is a prohibited area for anyone to venture. However, the last location of his mobile phone is 22 kms away from that spot, which has raised many doubts.

The search team also scanned through the lone CCTv installed near Dasoha Bhavan at the bottom of the hill. It shows Advaith climbing the hill at around 6.454 am on Friday morning, but there is no evidence for his return from the point. However, at around 8.30 am, he had made a video call to his fiancee from Valkala Theertha point, enroute to the hilltop. He had also shared some photos of the location before he lost the signal. The phone was not traceable from 1 pm. His family made multiple calls to him from 5 pm, but his phone was switched off.

The team's search operation was hampered due to bad weather in the region, which has been receiving rains for the last one week. However, the first breakthrough was received when they found his sweater and shoulder bag at Shanthala Point. The investigating team is considering multiple possibilities including slipped on the rocky granite structure and fell as it was raining.

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The second is that he went to visit Eshwara Temple on the hills which is under Muzrai department and ventured into the restricted area including Shanthal point, from where he slipped and fell. The other one is that he might have committed suicide by jumping from the Shanthala point.

However, family members insist that he might have been kidnapped as his last phone location was around 20 kms away from the hill top.