Body of 20-year-old recovered from 400-ft gorge at Lonavala's Tiger Point; police probe cause

A tragic incident has been reported from Tiger Point in Lonavala, a popular tourist destination across the state. A 20-year-old man fell into a gorge there and his body was later found. Police are now trying to establish whether it was an accident or suicide.

The incident occurred on the night of November 1. Heavy rain was falling, mist had settled and it was dark all around. The young man was standing near a tree in the Tiger Point area when he suddenly disappeared from view. People present there noticed this and strongly suspected that he had fallen into the deep gorge. They immediately called the police.

On receiving the call, Lonavala Rural police recognised the seriousness of the matter and reached the spot at once.

The deceased has been identified as Aniket Bhima Sable, 20, a resident of Ramnagar, Bhushi, Lonavala. The incident took place at night, the rain was continuing and the gorge area is dangerous. In view of this, police decided to launch a rescue operation in the early hours of November 2 with the help of the emergency team of Shivdurg Mitra.

On Monday morning, police and expert rescuers of Shivdurg Mitra reached the spot. The team members, taking full safety precautions, descended into the gorge, about 400 feet deep, and began the search.

Conditions were very difficult and the path was slippery. Even so, the search went on for about two and a half hours. After this sustained effort, the team found the body at the bottom of the gorge.

The body was then brought up 400 feet with the help of ropes and a stretcher, and handed over to Lonavala Rural police. Police are now investigating every angle to determine whether it was merely a horrific accident or suicide.

Members of the Shivdurg team who made a key contribution to the operation were Umbare, Harsh Tonde, Prince Baitha, Mahesh Masne, Ganesh Bhangare, Bhavesh Danave, Anand Gawade, Shailesh Umbare, Sahebrao Chavan, Mahadev Bhavar, Pintu Mankar, Santosh Margale and Sunil Gaikwad.