New Delhi: A newly married couple from Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district has remained missing for the last 15 days after embarking on their Sikkim getaway. The couple, who tied the knot on May 5th and departed for their honeymoon in Sikkim on May 24th, tragically disappeared following a horrific car accident on the evening of May 29th.
The couple, Kaushalendra Pratap Singh and Ankita Singh, were part of a group of eleven travellers. The vehicle they were travelling in plummeted a staggering 1,000 feet into the treacherous Teesta river in Sikkim’s landslide-prone Mangan district.
The accident occurred near Munsithang, along the perilous Lachen-Lachung highway, when the car skidded off the road. The immediate aftermath revealed a dire situation; the driver, Passang Denu Sherpa from Singhik, North Sikkim, died on the spot. While two other passengers, Swayam Supratim Nayak and Sairaj Jena from Odisha, were miraculously rescued on the night of the accident, a devastating eight people, including Kaushalendra and Ankita, remain unaccounted for.
Kaushalendra Pratap Singh’s distraught father, Sher Bahadur Singh, has travelled to Sikkim and is spearheading the search operation for his son and daughter-in-law. In a heartbreaking video message, a visibly distressed Singh, with folded hands, appealed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to intercede with his Sikkim counterpart, urging expedited search operations to trace his family members.
“My son and daughter-in-law are missing after their vehicle fell into a stream in Sikkim. I appeal to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to request his Sikkim counterpart to expedite the search and rescue operations,” Singh appealed through a video message.
“It’s our eighth day here,” Singh said from Sikkim. “We visited the accident spot several times. Whatever things have been recovered from the spot, nothing belongs to my son and his wife. I won’t return home till I find them. I request everyone to pray for the lives of my son and daughter-in-law,” he added.
The difficult search for the missing tourists is a multi-agency effort, involving personnel from the NDRF, Fire and Emergency Services, Forest Department, Tourism Department, TAAS (Travel Agents Association of Sikkim), and local police. However, their valiant efforts are significantly hampered by persistent bad weather conditions, adding difficulties for the rescuers.
