Hyderabad: The police, with the help of drones, on Friday traced the four tribal women who lost their way in the dense forest at Nirmal and reunited them with their family members.
According to officials, at around 8 am on Thursday, four tribal women — Rajula Radha (35), Kambala Lingavva (36), Gatlameedi Lakshmi (40) and Bathula Saroja (40), from Kappanapalli village in Nirmal district, went into the forest abutting their village to collect tuniki leaves used for rolling beedi.
They went deep into the forest and lost their way. As they didn’t return till late at night, the family members, after searching for them, approached the Mamida police. Throughout the night, local police, along with the villagers conducted a search, and as they could not trace the women, district SP Janaki Sharmila was alerted at around 4 am.
“I roped in the services of private drone operators and a 20-member all-women Quick Response Team. At the break of dawn on Friday, the drones were airborne and assisted by the aerial surveillance feed, the ground teams moved into the dense forest. Our teams were extra cautious as the area has an extremist problem, and movement of a leopard and bears was noticed by the locals,” the SP said.
Under the direct supervision of SP Janaki Sharmila and ASP Rajesh Meena, the 70-member police team located the four women on Bhimanna Gutta at around 7 am. “After they were located through drones, it took about half an hour for our ground units to reach them. The women were spotted 10 kilometres away from their village. They were dehydrated and in shock as they spent the night in the forest. Our team safely brought them back to the village at around 9 am,” the SP said.
Meanwhile, the villagers lauded the efforts of the 70-member police team and showered marigold petals on them.
