Case of trespassing registered against rescued trekker

Palakkad: Hours after the Kerala government on Monday said it would not take action against the trekker who was rescued from Kurumbachi Hills in the Malampuzha area of Palakkad district last week for trekking there unauthorisedly, forest officials registered a case of trespassing against him.

Earlier in the day, Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran and Revenue Minister K Rajan said the leniency shown to Babu, the young trekker, would not be shown to others who try to trek unauthorisedly.

The warning came amid reports of more people attempting to climb the Hills which garnered attention with the daring rescue of the trekker by the Madras Regimental Centre (MRC) on February 9 after he was trapped for 48 hours without food and water.

Thereafter, the District Forest Officer (DFO) of Palakkad told reporters that a 10-15 member team, including watchers, conducted search operations for any campers or trekkers in the hills today and would camp there at night.

The official said the team would conduct search operations on Tuesday morning also and then return.

However, in the evening, the officials decided to register a case against Babu to deter others from doing what he did.

Babu, speaking to a news channel, confirmed the registering of a case and advised everyone to be careful while scaling mountains or hills. He said doing so would entail action from the authorities.

He said everyone was saying no action was taken against him, but now a case was registered.