Kerala govt not to file case against rescued trekker

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 10: Even as the 23-year-old trekker, Babu, who was rescued from the jaws of death by the army, is presently convalescing at a state-run hospital in Kerala's Palakkad, on Thursday, he got the good news that there will be no case registered against him, according to a State Minister.

When Forest officials had began steps to register a case for trespass, State Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran called up a top Forest official and asked about it and is understood to have expressed his surprise at the speed of things.

"Babu's mother had spoken to me and said what was going on. It has now been decided that after Babu having to pass through a lot of difficulties for close to two days before the rescue, it has been decided that there will be no further action against him. But as part of procedures the Forest officials might speak to him to find out what had happened and apart from that there will be no further action," said Saseendran.

It was on Wednesday morning that help was sought from the Army to rescue Babu, who got trapped in a fault line of the Koormbachi hillock in Palakkad on February 7. He was taken out from where he was perched at about 400 feet from the top.

After an hour's rescue act, he was then airlifted in a helicopter which had stayed in the air on the top of the hill during the operation. By the time Babu was admitted to the hospital, he was dehydrated as for nearly 40 hours he had gone without food or water. Babu, 23, along with three of his friends, had climbed the hillock and while coming down, he slipped and fell into the fault line.

After failing to rescue him, his friends rushed downhill and alerted the locals and soon came the rescue team, but they too failed. And on Tuesday, an Indian Coast Guard's Chetak helicopter attempted the rescue operations, but, due to inclement weather, was unable to complete the mission.