KATHMANDU, June 6: Authorities launched a search operation early Friday morning for two Armed Police Force (APF) personnel who went missing in the Saptakoshi River during a disaster simulation exercise.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Shailendra Thapa, Assistant Spokesperson of APF, the incident occurred in Saptari's Hanumannagar Kankalini Municipality-1, where a joint team began a provincial-level disaster preparedness drill at 7:45 AM on Thursday. The exercise, held in the Koshi River as part of monsoon readiness efforts, included personnel from APF's No. 6 Battalion Saptari, the Dantakali Special Training School Saptari, and No. 7 Battalion Siraha.
APF divers mobilized to search for children missing in Sunkoshi
At around 3:10 PM, APF personnel Hardev Rajbanshi and Sub-Inspector Suraj Saud went missing in the river. Rajbanshi was posted at the Dantakali Special Training School and assigned from No. 1 Shree Antu Battalion Ilam. Saud was stationed at the No. 2 Chhinnamasta Brigade Headquarters, assigned from No. 13 Battalion Parsa.
In response, APF intensified the search efforts. On Friday morning, a DSP-led team mobilized 35 personnel, including four divers, from the Dantakali Special Training School. Another DSP led a separate deployment of 20 disaster-trained personnel from No. 6 Battalion Saptari.
To further support the operation, APF deployed five experienced divers from the Disaster Management Training School in Kurintar at 10:45 PM on Thursday. DSP Purushottam Bhandari, who completed diver training in Bangladesh in 2012 (2069 BS), leads the team. Bhandari, a longtime trainer of dive programs in Nepal, stated that he could not assess the situation without observing the site conditions, including water flow and terrain.
He clarified that the operation was not a training session but a simulation drill, part of nationwide monsoon disaster preparedness efforts. Both missing personnel had completed diver training in 2023 and 2024 (2080 and 2081 BS) and had taken part in previous rescue missions. However, they were not certified instructors, and the activity was a three- to four-day drill, not a formal training course.
