2 Persons Missing from last 7 days due to heavy snowfall in vewan hamlet of north kashmir

Baramulla 07 Nov:Two persons are missing from last seven days in Vewan hamlet of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district after heavy snowfall on upper reaches of the district.

Officials said that among the seven persons, who were stuck in woods at Kutapahri area due to heavy snowfall, two are still missing while five have returned to their homes safely.

According to villagers seven persons—Abdul Sattar Bhat son of Muhmmad Bhat, Abdul Ahad Bhat son of Rajab Bhat, Muhmmad Ramzan son of Rajab Bhat, Ghulam Qadir Bhat son of Muhmmad Ramzan Bhat, Ghulam Qadir son of Abdul Rahim, Muhmmad Amin Bhat son of Abdul Gani Bhat and Abdul Ahad Sheikh son of Abdul Karim Sheikh—left their homes for Kutapathri, a forest area over 60 kms from the Vewan.

They had gone to the forest area to save medicinal plants or Minor Forest Produce (MFP) they had collected from last few months.

After noticing change in weather and snowfall they tried to return back but two of them Abdul Ahad Sheikh and
Ghulam Qadir lost their and both are still missing since last seven days.

The villagers collect MFP, dump it at a specific spot and later collect the MFP before first snowfall but the early snowfall during this season caught them unaware.
Police teams camped at Vewan have launched the search operation but the whereabouts of both the missing persons are not known.
Pertinently, Vewan is the last hamlet located over 35 kilometres away main Bandipora.

The hamlet lacks basic amenities and collecting MFP and selling it to forest contractors is main the main job of people including women living there.