A trekker died after he accidentally fell from Tail Baila cliff in Mulshi taluka of Pune district Sunday morning. The police said the incident happened when the deceased, who was a skilled trekker, was setting up a rope to climb for other trekkers in the team.
The cliff is known for its almost vertical rock face and is difficult to climb.
The deceased has been identified as Somnath Baliram Shinde, 25. The trekker hailed from Tuljapur taluka of Osmanabad district in Maharashtra but was living in Katraj area of Pune for some time.
According to the information provided by officials from the local Paud police station, a group of six trekkers from the Garudzep trekking group in Pune had come to Tail Baila Saturday evening and stayed in a nearby village for the night. Around 5.30 am Sunday morning, the group started the climb.
Manoj Yadav, in charge of Paud police station, said: “Around 9.30 am when Shinde was installing the trekking rope for other group members to climb, the rope snapped and Shinde fell down 200 feet into the gorge, sustaining fatal injuries.”
A team from the Shivdurga Mitra, a group of search and rescue experts in Lonavala, was called. Shinde’s body was located and brought to a nearby village by Shivdurga Mitra members.
“According to our primary information, Shinde was a skilled climber and had undertaken several treks in the Sahyadris and other ranges. We have launched a probe into the sequence of events leading to the accident. Statements of his group members will be recorded,” an official from Paud police station said.
