An illegal trek soon turned into a nightmare for 11 techies who spent the night at Savandurga after losing their way up the monolith.
The incident comes barely a few months after cases were filed against a group for venturing on a night trek in the area.
On Saturday night, the software engineers, who are from Kerala, went up Savandurga – in Magadi taluk – in the night without permission from the forest department. The software engineers were working in various reputed IT firms in the city.
With inclement weather and heavy rains they lost their way. One of them managed to call the police control room after which a team of police along with the officials of fire and emergency services rushed to the area.
After a tense operation in the midst of darkness, the rescuers managed to track them down. The task was herculean considering that the forest range there spreads over 6,000 acres. “We had to use a public announcement system and flash lights to alert the group,” said a senior police officer.
The group were then taken to Magadi Police station, where they were let off with a warning.
In May 2016, a group of seven persons were caught by forest officials after they were found illegally in the forest area. Officials had filed cases under the Section 26 1(d) of Indian Forest Act, 1927 for trespassing. On Saturday night, however, forest officials said they were not informed of either the trespassing or the rescue operations.
