LUCKNOW: It has been 13 days since the newly-wed couple, Kaushalendra Pratap Singh, 29, and Ankita Singh, 26 from Pratapgarh went missing after the tourist vehicle in which they were travelling with 11 other passengers plunged into the swollen Teesta River in Mangan district of Sikkim.
The couple's family has yet to receive any communication from the authorities. After tying the knot in May, the couple left for their honeymoon in Sikkim on May 24. They have been missing since May 29.
It was later confirmed that the mini-bus they were travelling in along with other tourists had fallen into the Teesta River. Although authorities deployed divers and rescue teams, there has been no trace of the couple so far.
Kaushalendra’s father, Sher Bahadur Singh, visited Sikkim with four of his relatives in search of the couple but returned empty-handed on Tuesday.
In a state of shock and distress, they shared their ordeal with senior police and administrative officials in Pratapgarh and described the horrific sight of the Teesta River and the accident site.
According to Pratapgarh SP Dr. Anil Kumar, four family members who rushed to the site soon after the incident returned home on Tuesday. The family met with senior police and administrative authorities in Gangtok and discussed the extensive search operation being carried out.
The search effort involved removing rocks and debris from the Teesta River, which flows through a ravine as deep as thousands of feet.
Rescue teams are continuing their search downstream to Chungthang, about eight kilometers from the accident site. Although the river's flow has returned to normal, searching among the debris remains challenging. No belongings related to the couple have been found so far. The family returned based on assurances given by the authorities.
Sher Bahadur Singh, who reached Gangtok in search of his son and daughter-in-law, met two tourists who survived the accident. He informed Pratapgarh police officials that the survivors identified Kaushalendra and Ankita through their photographs, confirming they had been in the same vehicle.
The vehicle was carrying 11 tourists and a driver and was returning from Chungthang to Gangtok when it lost control around 9 p.m. due to heavy rainfall. Eight tourists, including Kaushalendra and Ankita, remain untraceable.
Ankita worked in the medicine department at Medanta Hospital in Lucknow. Kaushalendra, the only child of his parents, was preparing for the civil services examination in Delhi. Their honeymoon plans were finalized after their waitlisted train tickets were confirmed on May 22.