Three missing forest officials found after search operation

Three forest officials who were stranded in the Bonacaud forest in Thiruvananthapuram during the ongoing tiger census were located on Tuesday.

Section Forest Officer Vineetha, Beat Forest Officer Rajesh, and Beat Forest Assistant Rajesh R. were reported to have gone missing after heading for fieldwork at Paruthipally-Peppara block as part of the All India Tiger Estimation on Monday. They later failed to return to the base camp by evening, prompting an overnight search operation by a Rapid Response Team.

The failure to establish communication using their allocated devices also triggered concern. The personnel were ultimately traced to a spot near Erattumukku around 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday.