Tourist's body found 140km from plunge site

TT, 27 Jul 2019, Jalpaiguri: The body of Gopal Narwani, a tourist from Rajasthan who had been missing for the past 15 days after his vehicle plunged into the swollen Teesta, was found floating 140km downstream at Haldibari in Cooch Behar district on Thursday evening.

His family members, who had reached Siliguri after the accident and have been there since, went to Haldibari and identified the highly decomposed body.

On July 10, Gopal, along with his friends Aman Garg and Anand Sharma, had been travelling in an SUV from Siliguri to Sikkim when the car skidded off the rain-drenched NH10 and plunged into the Teesta in spate near the Coronation Bridge at Sevoke.

Two days later, Aman's body was found floating at Gajoldoba, near the Teesta Barrage.

Anand and Rakesh Rai, the driver who lives in Siliguri, are still missing.

At Sevoke, the Indian Navy and the National Disaster Response Force are carrying out searches, but are yet to locate the duo and the vehicle.

Locals said Gopal's body was spotted floating in the river in Bakshiganj of Haldibari, around 140km downstream and near the India-Bangladesh border.

Police were informed and a team recovered the body.

"Three of them had been here on a trip. After we got the information, we rushed to Haldibari. We have identified the body," said Kamlesh Narwani, Gopal's brother..