Missing Navy official found dead near Matheran trek route

The decomposed body of a 33-year-old Navy official, who went missing during a trek at Matheran hill station near Mumbai earlier this month, has been found in a gorge, police said on Thursday.

The deceased, identified as Surajsingh Amarpalsingh Chauhan, served as Master Chief, Class II, at Colaba in south Mumbai, and had joined duty four months ago, an official said.

Chauhan had gone for Bhivpuri-Garbett trek at Matheran on September 7, and later went missing, he said.

When he did not return home and his mobile phone was also switched off, his family members approached the Cuffe Parade Police Station in south Mumbai with a missing person complaint and a case was registered.

The decomposed body was recovered on Monday after a trekker alerted Neral Police Station near Matheran in neighbouring Raigad district, the official said.

Earlier, after receiving the missing complaint, the police launched a probe and Chauhan's location was traced to Matheran area.

Accordingly, a search was launched by police teams with the help of forest department, Sahyadri rescue team and other agencies, Neral's assistant police inspector Shivaji Dhavale said.

However, Chauhan, a native of Rajasthan, remained untraceable for more than a week.

On Monday, a trekker, walking in the hilly terrain, found a decomposed body in a 50-foot-deep gorge behind a temple near the Pali Bhootwali dam and alerted police.

The police, along with rescue teams, rushed to the spot and the body was later sent for postmortem to the government-run J J Hospital in Mumbai, the official said.

In the CCTV footage of Bhivpuri station and nearby areas, Chauhan was seen walking alone for the trek, he said, adding no foul play was suspected.

The initial autopsy report has not mentioned the cause of death and the viscera has been preserved, the official said.

The Neral police have registered a case of accidental death and a probe is on into it, he added.