Missing American base jumper found dead in Spiti Valley in Himachal, stone-pelting prevents recovery of body | News from Chandigarh

Police said the victim’s belongings are still missing and efforts are on to trace them. Bokstaahlar’s family members are expected to arrive in India on Sunday. His father is in touch with Lahaul and Spiti district police officials.

According to sources, the police came to know that the victim was a base jumper from his father, who had informed them about his son’s disappearance from Kaza in Himachal. Base jumping is a sport in which a person jumps from a fixed point and uses a parachute to slow down before reaching the ground. According to sources, pictures of the victim’s body were also shared with his family. Meanwhile, it is not yet confirmed whether the victim’s parachute was his own or rented.

Mayank Chaudhary, superintendent of police of Lahaul and Spiti, said, “A rented motorcycle of the victim was found abandoned near Tashigang on June 13. There was no sign of the body till June 15. On June 16, we noticed a group of scavengers (vultures, eagles) hovering over a particular object. Using binoculars, we concluded that it was a human body.”

“On June 14, a drone with the help of the Army’s Dogra Regiment spotted a parachute stuck in a deep gorge between Kee and Tashigang. Subsequently, special teams of ITBP and SDRF were deployed on June 15 to carry out a rescue operation,” SP Chaudhary added.

Police said the body would be handed over to the victim’s relatives after it was recovered and an autopsy was performed.