Bodies of two missing tourists found near Billing

The bodies of a Pathankot man and a Pune woman who went missing on February 5 in Billing in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district were recovered by police from a forest area on Tuesday.

The police suspect that the duo died after slipping and falling on ice. The deceased have been identified as Abhinandan Gupta, 30, of Shivnagar in Punjab’s Pathankot and Pranita Bala, 26, of Maharashtra’s Pune.

While no external injuries were found on Pranita’s body, Abhinandan’s head was severely injured. The injuries are suspected to inflicted by wild animals.

Police had launched a search and rescue operation on Monday after Abhinandan’s friends filed a missing report at the Bir police station. According to the complaint, Abhinandan and his friend had gone on a hike and did not return by evening.

Kangra additional superintendent of police Bir Bahadur said that after the post-mortem, the bodies have been handed over to the relatives and the matter is being investigated.