Dhenkanal: Five students went missing in the Saptasajya forest region of Dhenkanal district on Sunday.
They have been identified as; Arakhita Mahapatra, Subham Mahapatra, Himanshu Das, Sujit Sahu, and Lucky Das from the Rajendra Nagar area near Cuttack district, all aged between 18 and 20 years.
According to sources, a group of seven students had gone on a trip to Saptasajya. Out of them, five students ventured further up above Bishnu Baba Ashram, located on the hilltop.
The five students got stranded in the forest until evening due to heavy rain and were unable to find their way back to the Ashram. Poor network connectivity prevented them from contacting their families and others.
Upon receiving information, three teams led by Sadar Police Station IIC Deepak Lenka and Sadar Ranger Bibhudanand Mishra launched a search operation.
Officials have attempted to communicate with the students by bursting crackers.
Sadar Forest Ranger Mishra said, ‘The students shared their location after hearing the firecracker signal.’
Meanwhile, heavy rains in the region have hampered the search operation. Forest department and police officials are concerned about the dangers posed by wild animals in the area.
Further details on the matter are awaited.
