Shirur landslide: A truck owner's resolute 72-day fight to find his driver's body

Manaf has become the epitome of not only the employer-employee relationship but also of a deep friendship and brotherhood between the two.

Battling hate campaign

His unwavering commitment to finding Arjun reflects a bond that goes beyond business, symbolising solidarity and compassion in the face of tragedy, especially given the horrendous hate campaign Manaf endured.

Targetted by right-wing social media, predominantly due to his Muslim identity, he was mercilessly labelled a 'Jihadi' without a cause. Some online video channels even accused him of sandalwood smuggling and claimed the search was a charade to collect insurance money. Despite these baseless attacks, Manaf’s resilience and dedication remained unshaken, making his actions even more remarkable.

"I have fulfilled that promise. This shows what a man can achieve if he puts in the maximum effort. There is no door I have not knocked on to ensure the recovery of his remains. I always said he was there in the truck's cabin, and now his body has been found there," the teary-eyed truck owner told reporters in a broken voice after the cabin of the lorry, with a dead body inside, was lifted by a crane.

Snail's pace

It was Manaf who first alerted the authorities after the truck went missing in the devastating landslide, stating that Arjun’s phone was still ringing and that he might be saved on July 17. It took significant effort and convincing on Manaf’s part, and later from the Kerala government, to push the Karnataka authorities to take some serious action.

The landslide, which occurred on July 16, buried multiple vehicles, including Arjun’s truck, and sparked a long and arduous search operation. Concerns regarding the inefficiency of the early rescue efforts surfaced, especially from Arjun’s family and local authorities. As the operation initially moved slowly, the Kerala government and others put pressure on the Karnataka government to intensify their efforts.

In the early days following the landslide, there was confusion over whether the vehicles, including Arjun's truck, were buried under the debris or swept into the Gangavali River, which runs parallel to National Highway 66. The landslide had engulfed three tankers, a truck, and a car parked by the roadside, but their exact fate remained unclear.

Manaf was present throughout the search operations alongside Arjun’s brother-in-law, Jithin, at ground zero. His persistence in continuing the search often caused tension with local authorities, as they were not always supportive of the ongoing efforts. Despite this, Manaf remained insistent on pressing forward, determined to bring closure to the tragedy.

"During the first phase of the search, the police officials asked me, 'Who is this influential person that the chief ministers of both Kerala and Karnataka are putting pressure on us for a mere lorry driver?' I told them, "Neither of us is influential, but we Keralites are like this."

Baseless narrative

As days passed without any results, the tide began to turn against Manaf. A social media campaign emerged, accusing him of pursuing the search only to reclaim his truck for insurance purposes, rather than out of concern for Arjun's well-being. This baseless narrative painted him as self-serving, further intensifying the challenges he faced during the search.

"You know I didn’t have to recover the lorry for insurance money, as it was a natural calamity. But for Arjun’s family, it needed closure, and obviously, a death certificate. Not only that, he was like a brother to me. I was determined that I would not go back without him. What if his two-year-old son grows up and asks me what I did for his father?"

Manaf stayed in Shirur for more than two months, renting a house and coordinating the search efforts. He frequently travelled back and forth to Bengaluru and Karnataka to gather any assistance he could. When media attention shifted to the Wayanad disaster, Manaf visited various media houses, advocating for Arjun's story. Ultimately, his relentless efforts led to a resolution in the search.

“We, the family, were working tirelessly, and so was brother Manaf, even though we weren’t doing this jointly. We did our part, and he did his, but our aim was the same: to find Arjun,” said Anju, Arjun’s elder sister.

Even though he faced slander and trolling from a section of online media, Manaf’s efforts did not go in vain. When the truck was finally lifted, he was hailed as a true hero.

“Since the day the search operations began, Manaf, the owner of Arjun's truck, and others had been camping at the site. Manaf's intervention to energize the search is also an exalted example of profound humanity, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote on his Facebook page.

Time line of the search operations

After the futile search and rescue efforts on July 17, 18 and 19th, by 20th, the arrival of advanced search equipment, including radar, gave some hope. Radar signals picked up from beneath the soil meant that Arjun’s truck might be buried under the landslide. However, after several days of intense efforts, the rescue team confirmed that the truck was not buried on land, shifting the focus of the search to the Gangavali River.

Despite the use of drones and SONAR equipment to aid in the search, the rescue teams encountered several setbacks, including heavy rainfall, which delayed operations and led to cancellations of drone-assisted searches.

On July 22, an LPG bullet tanker was pulled from the river, raising hopes of finding more vehicles. The following day, sonar signals were detected from the river at the same location where radar signals had previously been picked up. However, it was only on September 25 that Arjun's truck was finally located at the bottom of the river. Inside the truck's cabin, a body was found, believed to be Arjun’s.

Concerns of the family

The long delay in finding Arjun and his truck raised significant concerns. On July 21, Arjun’s family wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing frustration with the slow pace of the rescue operations.

The Karnataka government, on July 24, defended the rescue efforts in the state’s high court, saying that the search was not delayed. However, the repeated interruptions caused by adverse weather and the immense logistical challenges of searching the riverbed contributed to the prolonged nature of the operation.

The involvement of rescue operators like Ishwar Malpe, a Karnataka-based amateur diver, and Ranjith Israel, a Kerala-based rescue worker, along with a technically trained team led by retired Major General M Indra Balan from Kerala, brought an additional level of application and professionalism to the various stages of the search.

Despite their expertise, it was only after more than two months of relentless efforts that the truck was finally recovered from the riverbed. This marked the end of a long, agonising ordeal for Arjun’s family, Manaf and friends, who had been in distress throughout the entire period.