Meghalaya mulls paramilitary assistance in search for missing Indore couple

The Meghalaya government has announced plans to seek assistance from paramilitary forces in the search for a honeymooning couple from Madhya Pradesh who went missing in the state.

Indore's Raja Raghuvanshi and his wife Sonam have been missing since May 23 in the Sohra area of East Khasi Hills district. 

About 50 police personnel are searching for them.

"We are contemplating to call in rescuers from paramilitary forces to trace the couple," East Khasi Hills SP Vivek Syiem told PTI.

“Sad to say, but the search today did not yield any positive results,” he said.

Extremely heavy rainfall and low visibility stalled the search and rescue operation on Friday.

The couple arrived in Mawlakhiat village on May 22 on a rented scooter. They trekked over 3,000 steps down the gorge to visit the famous living root bridges in Nongriat village, where they stayed the night, according to police.

They left the homestay the following morning. On May 24, their scooter was found abandoned outside a cafe along the road from Shillong to Sohra.

Madhya Pradesh MPs Shankar Lalwani and Sumer Singh Solanki reviewed the rescue operations with DGP I Nongrang and Chief Secretary DP Wahlang, and expressed satisfaction with the efforts.

Earlier this year, Hungarian tourist Puskas Zsolt went missing soon after he started his trek to the living roots bridge. His body was found dead 12 days later. Medical reports indicated that he died due to a fall.

The state government has issued a slew of safety advisories for tourists in view of the bad weather conditions.

The Shillong-Dawki road, where construction work is underway, has temporarily been closed. Vehicular movement was affected across the region, with landslides and flash floods being reported from many places.