Decomposed body of missing Hungarian tourist found in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills

The decomposed body of a Hungarian tourist, who had been missing for nearly a fortnight, was found in a forest in Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district, police said on Friday.

The tourist, identified as Zolt Puskas, was on his way to the renowned double-decker root bridge at Nongriat, 20 km south of Sohra town, a senior police officer said.

His decomposed body was found on Thursday in a remote forest area near Ramdait village along the trail leading to Nongriat.

The Hungarian Embassy had filed a missing complaint on March 29 and an FIR was lodged on April 2, following which a search and rescue operation was launched, along with local villagers and members of social organisations, the police officer said.

Puskas had checked into a hotel in Shillong city early on March 29 and by 9 am the same morning, he had checked out and proceeded to Sohra town in a local taxi, he said.

The taxi reportedly dropped Puskas at Mawsahew village, from where he proceeded alone, with just a backpack, towards Nongriat via Mawkawir. He did not have a tourist guide with him.

On Thursday afternoon, police recovered his body in a decomposed state in a forest in Ramdait area, with the law enforcers suspecting he could have slipped and fell down, leading to his death.

A thorough probe has been initiated into the matter, the officer added.