Missing foreigners in scenic Kullu Valley

[Tom]

SHIMLA: Picture-postcard settings, combined with the lure of cheap and quality cannabis, draw hordes of foreign tourists to Kullu Valley in the northern Himalayas. But not all of them return home - some simply disappear without a trace.

 

Australian Daniel Mount Whitten went missing earlier this month, the 17th foreigner to have disappeared in the last 13 years. Britain-based NGO Fair Trials Abroad says the number could be as high as 50 but authorities in Kullu, 240 from this north Indian resort town, deny this.

 

"The police have carried out helicopter searches to look for the missing Australian. His sister Dalia and officials of his insurance company (Harell Insurance Company) have also joined the effort," said Kullu district police chief Anand Pratap Singh.

 

"We have ruled out foul play for the moment. The search is continuing," Singh added.

 

Almost 50,000 foreign tourists visit the picturesque valley every year. In the last five years, young Israelis have been the largest number of foreigners descending on the valley.

 

Even Whitten is half Israeli.

 

The Kullu valley is notorious for cannabis smuggling to all corners of the Western world. The cannabis crop grows in abundance despite the police and the narcotics wing launching several campaigns to destroy it.

 

Satellite imagery is also being relied on to locate cannabis-growing areas. During the last decade 545 kg of cannabis has been seized and 273 people, including 75 foreigners, have been arrested.

 

The police say many foreigners overstay in the valley and some marry locals to legalise their stay. Others aimlessly roam the valley from village to village, often venturing into the high mountains.

 

Last year a Swedish woman's frozen body was found on a Himalayan glacier in Lahaul, almost 25 years after she went missing in the region.

 

Author:newindpress.com

Date:Saturday August 13 2005

Source:www.newindpress.com

Copyright:newindpress.com