The four-member Spanish trekking group, detained in Uttarkashi by Uttarakhand Police for illegally using satellite phone during expedition, was released on Monday.
One of trekkers near Kotwali police station in Uttarkashi on Sunday. (Photo: SNS)
The four-member Spanish trekking group, detained in Uttarkashi by Uttarakhand Police for illegally using satellite phone during expedition, was released on Monday.
During interrogation, the group admitted to using the satellite phone provided by another trekking group when the health of a member declined and he wanted to speak to his family members.
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Uttarkashi’s district magistrate Ashish Chauhan said, “The group admitted that the health of one of their members declined near Vasuki Tal. The member began crying in fear and requesting other trekking group, camping on the site, to help him interact with his family members in Spain. Some member of other foreign group gave him the satellite phone. We confirmed the facts by interrogating the porters and found it correct.”
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The police decided to set the Spanish trekking group free. Learning a lesson from the incident, the district administration has instructed the forest department to properly check the belongings of the trekkers.
The four members of the group were identified as George, Georgia, John and Alphonso. The group began their expedition for Sathopanth last week but failed to complete the expedition due to poor health of one member.
No satellite phone was recovered from the detained trekkers. It is said that many foreign groups were near the Vasuki Tal and somebody was carrying the gadget illegally. The missing satellite remains a mystery.
The report about a foreigner using satellite phone created panic among the local intelligence unit. The call details were checked and verified, and the Uttarkashi administration reached the conclusion that the call was made by one member to his family in fear.
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