Trekker from city dies in hills

Biswajit Poddar

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, March 23: A 35-year-old man from Salt Lake died yesterday night after taking ill while on a trek at Sandakphu.

This was Biswajit Poddar's, a manager with Fi-Tek, a firm in Salt Lake, first visit to Sandakphu, Bengal's highest peak at 11,941ft, with three colleagues.

"While we regularly visit Darjeeling, this was our first visit to Sandakphu," said D. Mukherjee, one of his colleagues. "We started our trek from Maneyjbhanjyan on March 18 and reached Sandakphu on March 21. Yesterday, we started trekking from Sandakphu to Phalut around 8am. But after about 3km, Poddar started complaining of leg pain."

Sandakphu is the highest point in Darjeeling's Singalila Ridge on the Bengal-Nepal border.

While the trek from Maneyjbhanjyan is an uphill climb, the walk from Sandakphu to Phalut (21km) is relatively downhill till the last stretch.

The group had stopped at Tonglu and Kalpokhari before reaching Sandakphu, Mukherjee said.

"When Poddar complained of leg pain, his friends arranged for a vehicle to take him and a guide to Phalut," a police officer said. His colleagues continued with the trek and reached Phalut around 4pm, he said.

Poddar and the guide had reached a guest house in Phalut around 12.30pm.

"They found him lying on a bed with difficulty in breathing," the officer said. "They sought help of the Sashastra Seema Bal, which has camps along the India-Nepal border. SSB jawans brought an oxygen cylinder but Poddar's friends claimed that they could not operate it."

Poddar's colleagues then decided to take him to Darjeeling and the group left Phalut around 6pm. "His condition seems to have worsened on the way. Poddar was declared brought dead at Darjeeling district hospital," the officer said.

He said there were no signs of external injuries. "But it appears he bled from the nose. The exact cause of death will be known only after we get the medical report."

Another colleague said it was unlikely Poddar had any health problems.

Poddar's elder brother Biprajit left for Darjeeling with a friend today morning. He is survived by his wife and a four-year-old son.