Nihang Sikh Ascetic Goes Missing in Valley of Flowers
Dehradun: A 47-year-old Nihang – a Sikh warrior ascetic – from Faridabad, Haryana, went missing in the Valley of Flowers in Chamoli area of Garhwal Himalayas on Wednesday morning, marking the third such disappearance of trekkers in Uttarakhand within two weeks.
Officials said Gabbar Singh was last seen entering the valley, designated as a Unesco World Natural Heritage Site, but search teams, including State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and forest department personnel, said they were unable to trace him despite an extensive search operation involving drone deployment across the trail from the main gate to the valley.
Divisional forest officer (DFO) Abhimanyu Singh said rescue teams had thoroughly combed the Valley of Flowers trail, covering approximately 8-km, but had not found any trace of the missing man. “Officials said efforts to trace Singh through mobile surveillance were unsuccessful as the phone number he had provided at the entry gate was incorrect. Preliminary inquiries also revealed that he had not been in contact with his family for the past three years. “He provided his Aadhaar card at the entry gate but gave an incorrect phone number. We contacted his family using the address on the document, but they told us they had not been in touch with him for the past three years,” the DFO added.
Authorities suspect that Singh may have taken one of the alternative routes leading out of the Valley of Flowers area. The region has multiple exit points, and officials believe he could have left the main trekking route without informing anyone.
Search operations are continuing in the area, with teams exploring all possible routes and adjoining locations. Forest department officials said the search would continue until the missing person is traced.
The incident follows the disappearance of two other trekkers on May 29. Abhishek Chauhan, a 36-year-old software engineer from Noida went missing while returning from the Pindari Glacier trek in Bageshwar district, and Babita Pandey, a 24-year-old MBA student from Nainital vanished from the Ghoi campsite on the Dayara Bugyal trek.
