Kerala CM writes to Siddaramaiah to resume efforts to trace missing lorry driver

KOZHIKODE: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday shot off a letter to his Karnataka counterpart requesting him to resume the search operations for the lorry driver from here, who went missing following a landslide at a village there last month.

In a letter written to Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Vijayan said the search operations which were halted earlier were supposed to resume today, but they haven’t.

“I write this to share the anxiety and sorrow of the family members of Arjun, as he is missing for quite a long time. I was given to understand that the search operations to find Arjun were to be resumed today. Information is reaching that the operations have not yet resumed,” he said in his letter.

Kerala CM sought the personal intervention of Siddaramaiah for the resumption of the search operations today itself.

Earlier in the day, Vijayan visited the house of Arjun and interacted with his family members.

Later, in a Facebook post, Vijayan said the concerns of the family on finding Arjun will be conveyed to the Karnataka government.

After a brief meeting with them, Vijayan returned, assuring the family that he would be there to support them through any difficulties.

Arjun was driving a lorry loaded with timber to Kozhikode when the landslide occurred on July 16. He has been missing since then.

Multiple agencies had conducted a search mission to find him at the landslide site in Uttara Kannada district.