Karnataka: Army says Kerala native Arjun and his lorry not under landslide debris; signal traced to river bank

The Army has dismissed the possibility that Arjun, a Kozhikode native, and his lorry are buried under the landslide debris in Shirur, Ankola. Instead, they detected a signal from the riverbank, indicating no lorry was on the road.

Ankola: The Indian Army has ruled out the possibility of Arjun, the Kozhikode native and his lorry being buried under the landslide debris. According to the army, there was no lorry on the road, and instead, a signal was detected from the riverbank. The army is currently scouring the area along the river where the signal was received, marking and searching the terrain.

The search for Arjun entered its seventh day on Monday (July 22), with efforts ongoing to locate his lorry. Initially, the focus was on a road-side dune, where the vehicle was suspected to be parked. Now, the search has expanded to include a river search using advanced radar technology, capable of detecting signals from significant depths and distances. However, the presence of extensive dunes in the river is posing a challenge to the search operation.

The Indian army personnel, National Disaster Response Force and Indian Navy resumed their search for tracing Arjun and two Karnataka natives who went missing in a massive landslide at Ankola in Shirur. 

Scuba divers have been searching the Gangavali River since morning, focusing on the area near the landslide site where a dune is present. The army suspects that Arjun's lorry might have entered the river, and the Navy is preparing to deploy additional equipment to aid in the search and inspection of the river.