5 from city trek wrong Raigad hill, land in risky spot, rescued

Navi Mumbai: Five trekkers from Mumbai—three collegians and two corporate engineers—who got lost on their way to Manikgad were rescued by Rasayani police in Raigad on Sunday evening, about 30km from where they had started. The five were part of a 26-member group. They said they took a wrong route following their cab driver’s advice.
The collegians—Shrey Dand (20), Chirag Shah (20) and Hriday Thakkar (19)—and the corporate engineers— Kiran Khona (24) and Yashpal Momaya (23)—are residents of Bhandup, Ghatkopar and Mulund.They started from Tilak Nagar station at 6am on Sunday.
The 26-member group hired four cabs after alighting at Panvel station. The five, who had undertaken a number of treks in the past, were in one cab and were dropped at Vadgaon village around 10am. The remaining 21 trekkers alighted at Vashivali Thakurwadi and successfully trekked to Manikgad.
The five trekked through the hilly forest till 1.30pm and reached a risky spot with a valley, about 300ft above Vadgaon. That’s when they realised they had lost their way, called police for help and shared their location. The call was diverted to Khalapur police station and then to Rasayani police station.
Rasayani police inspector Sanjay Bangar sent three police constables and a Vashivali villager. The team was 100m away from the trekkers by 4pm but on an opposite hill. After hearing noises from the rescuers, the trekkers began shouting for help, which led the team to them.
Dand said mobile connectivity was patchy when they sent out an SOS. “After the arrival of the police team, we waved our T-shirts for better visibility. They guided us in trekking 500m through the hilly forest area, which we covered in 20 minutes.”