As search operations are continuing in Shirur village in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district to trace the lorry driver from Kerala who went missing after a massive landslide, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday wrote to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah requesting him to expedite rescue operations and deploy radar for the search.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office was in touch with Karnataka Chief Minister’s office to expedite the search for the truck driver from Kozhikode, Arjun, whose vehicle got trapped under a mudslide at Shirur in Ankpla in Uttara Kannada district on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Vijayan has asked Chief Secretary Dr V Venu for coordinating with the Karnataka Government to extricate the vehicle and its driver from the mud blocking the arterial road.
The truck drivere’s family has filed a missing person complaint at the Chevayur police station in Kozhikode. The Kozhikode District Police was also in touch with their counterparts in Karnataka. Some of Arjun’s relatives have filed a similar petition at the Ankola police station in Uttara Kannada district.
Meanwhile, Kerala Transport Minister KB Ganesh Kumar told media persons in Thiruvananthapuram that the government had belatedly learned of Arjun’s failure to return to his family after his inter-state trip. He said the truck was registered in Kerala and equipped with a GPS.
Ganesh Kumar said that according to preliminary information, the truck carrying logs remained trapped under a pile of mud. He said the cabin was sturdy enough to keep the driver alive. “The vehicle data received by the manufacturer showed that the driver had started the engine twice in the past four days. And at times, Arjun’s mobile phone came online. However, the truck’s location remained unchanged for several days,” Ganesh Kumar said.
Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan, said he had contacted Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Sivakumar to speed up the rescue operations
Congress leader KC Venugopal and the party’s MP from Kozhikode, MK Raghavan were in touch with the Karnataka Government, seeking to rescue the truck driver, Arjun.
Meanwhile, Arjun’s family is pinning hope on his return as his mobile phone was ringing even on Friday morning. They revealed that Arjun contacted them on Monday after which there has been no communication from him.
Arjun, a native of Kannadikkal in Kozhikode, went missing while driving the truck loaded with wood from Jagalpet in Zoida Ramanagara to Kerala after a massive landslide on the National Highway in Shirur, Ankola in Uttara Kannada district.
The incident occurred on Tuesday at 4 am. Another vehicle, a car carrying a family, is also trapped, sources said. Arjun was last seen drinking tea at Shirur Lakshmana Naik’s canteen before the incident.