Pune: Missing Youth Found Safe After 100 Hours at Sinhagad Fort

Khadakwasla, 25th August 2025: After nearly four days of intensive search, a 24-year-old man who went missing at Sinhagad Fort has been found alive and safe. The youth, identified as Gautam Adinath Gaikwad, a resident of Hyderabad, was spotted by locals around 7 pm on Sunday in the area behind the memorial of Narveer Tanaji Malusare.

According to police, Gaikwad had visited Sinhagad with his friends on Wednesday. While his group was exploring, he left his mobile phone with a friend and went to relieve himself, but never returned. Later in the evening, his friends alerted the police after discovering his slippers near a cliff.

For the next three days, search efforts were carried out despite heavy rain and fog in the region. Teams from the police, forest department, disaster management, local citizens, and relatives participated in the operation.

“A total of 68 people were involved in the search. The operation had been called off temporarily in the evening, but soon after, some tourists spotted him and raised an alarm,” said Haveli Police Inspector Sachin Wangde.

Locals rushed to the spot and helped bring Gaikwad down from the fort. He was immediately shifted by ambulance to a private hospital in Khanapur, where he is undergoing treatment.

Villagers said Gaikwad appeared weak, exhausted, and had suffered injuries. “He looked extremely tired, was shivering due to the cold, and there were visible marks of assault on his body,” said Sanjay Gaikwad, a local resident who assisted in the rescue.

Police said further inquiries are underway to determine how the youth managed to survive in the fort area for almost 100 hours.