Shirur landslide: Body of missing Kerala truck driver Arjun recovered after over two months

KARWAR: More than two months after a massive landslide at Shirur that occurred on National Highway-66 on July 16, the body of missing truck driver Arjun has recovered after six days of search operations. He was transporting wood from Karnataka to Kozhikode in Kerala when the landslide washed away his truck into the river.

Arjun (30), the driver of a 12-wheeler truck carrying timber from Joida to Kerala, remained missing after the rescue operation. The GPS location of the truck showed it to be at the location of the landslide. Arjun hailed from Kozhikode in Kerala and was a regular at Lakshman Naik’s canteen.

After the arrival of a dredger from Goa, search operations were resumed for the truck and the three other missing persons in the river, which has been going on for the last six days. During the operation in the river on Wednesday, Arjun’s body and the Kerala-registered truck were found. The truck was crushed under the massive landslide.

The search operation, involving experts like Eshwar Malpe, finally located the mangled truck and Arjun’s body in the Gangavali river. The recovery efforts were earlier hindered by high water levels.