Last WhatsApp status of techie found dead in Lonavala was 'bye'

Alizha Rana was from Hyderabad and worked in Pune

The body of a software engineer, 24, from Hyderabad, who worked in a Pune-based IT company, was found in a valley around 300-ft deep in Lonavala on Sunday. Alizha Rana was missing since Thursday and was located after her purse and mobile phone were found in Lonavala. The search operation went on for over 90 hours. Police said Rana worked at Infosys and stayed on rent at Hinjewadi. Her parents had filed a missing complaint on Thursday. Her purse and mobile were located at Lion point in Lonavala on Thursday evening. Acting on this clue, the local police along with 32 trekkers from Shivdurg Mitra, a trekking group, found her.

Team of 32 trekkers

Shivdurg secretary Sunil Gaikwad said, "Late on Thursday evening, the Lonavala police informed us about Rana, but as there was continuous rain and fog it was not possible to search for her. On Friday our team of 32 trekkers carried out the search operation till late evening but could not trace her. As there were heavy rains and fog on Saturday again we could not search for her." "Early on Sunday, trekkers Rahul Deshmukh and Pranay Ambore, went down rappelling in two different locations and we co-ordinated with them on walkie talkies. Around 3 pm Rahul located her body. Later, other trekkers, Mahesh Masne, Anil Andhare, Amol Perchant and Rahul, went back for the body. It took us around three hours to pull her out," he added.

A team of 32 local trekkers searched for her

Senior Inspector Sandeep Ghorpade of Lonavala rural police station said, "Based on Rana's purse and mobile handset, we tried to locate her. Later we found her parents had lodged a missing person complaint. They said in her WhatsApp status she had said 'bye' to her parents and loved ones. She was also not answering her parents' phone calls. The body was sent for post mortem. Once we get an expert's opinion, we will able to reveal whether it is suicide or accidental death."

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