Pune Man Dies After Falling Into Gorge While Taking Photo During Lohagad Trek

A 26-year-old man from Pune died after falling into a deep gorge while trekking at Lohagad Fort in Maval tehsil, police said on Friday.

The deceased was identified as Ketan Vishal Agarwal (26), a resident of Gahunje. He belonged to a family engaged in real estate development. Ketan, serving as director in his family run real estate firm, was due to get married in November this year.

According to Lonavala Rural Police, Agarwal had visited the historic hill fort for his fiancée’s pre-birthday celebrations on Thursday morning. The two had begun trekking around the fort when Agrawal lost his balance near a cliff edge at around 10:30am and plunged nearly 400 feet into a gorge.

Police inspector Dinesh Tayde of Lonavala Rural Police Station said that Agrawal suffered severe injuries in the fall and died on the spot.

“Ketan Agarwal was to get married with fiancee in November this year for which the two families had booked a palace in Udaypur in Rajasthan. On Thursday, Ketan and his fiancee went on a trek with two more friends also joining them. At the top, he fell off amid strong wind flow while taking a photograph,” said Tayde.

After receiving information about the incident, police personnel launched a rescue operation. Due to the difficult terrain and dense vegetation in the valley, rescuers worked for nearly three hours to retrieve the body and bring it down to the base of the fort.

The body was later sent for post-mortem examination. Police have registered an accidental death report and are conducting further inquiries.