Even as the badly-bruised body of 24-year-old information technology (IT) professional Satwik Shastri, who went missing from the Bannerghatta National Park area on Saturday, was found on Monday afternoon, Satwik’s friends recall hearing a rattling sound from the bushes and twigs breaking, forcing them to flee.
Satwik, a business analyst with Mu Sigma Business Solutions in Whitefield here, had ventured into the park area with his friends Anupam Mannur and Ashish Shenoi.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Bangalore Rural, N. Nagaraj said the body was found in the Nirinagundi region in Ragihalli forest area, which is a watering hole for elephants. “The body bore multiple fractures and haemorrhages from being trampled by an elephant,” Mr. Nagaraj said, citing the post-mortem report provided by the Anekal taluk hospital.
Mr. Shenoi, who told presspersons on Sunday that Satwik went to answer nature’s call and did not return, admitted to hearing the sounds when he and Mr. Mannur went in search of Satwik. “I was distraught and these details slipped my mind,” he told The Hindu on Monday after Satwik’s body was found. But, he said, they did not see any elephants or hear trumpeting.
Search
Earlier in the day, about 10 teams of personnel of the Forest and Police departments scoured the forest areas to locate Satwik. Around 1.30 p.m., a search party assisted by residents of Ragihalli village found the body lying in a ravine, around 300 metres from the path normally used by trekkers.
The team also found his mobile phone, wrist watch, wallet, lighter and a pack of cigarettes. His shoe was lying about 5 m from the body.
Meanwhile, Deputy Superintendent of Police A. Kumaraswamy said the Forest Department had booked a case of illegal entry and trespassing against Mr. Mannur and Mr. Shenoi.
