Pune based businessman dies in Himachal landslide

Alok Bafna

Pune: A Pune based businessman, who had gone to Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh succumbed to death in a landslide on Monday evening.

The deceased has been identified as Alok Bafna (35), a resident of Wood's in Wakad, Pune. Bafna owned Surya Transport business in Pimpri. Bafna along with his friends Ajinkya Kalbor, Amit Pharande, Raju Thakur and Pradip Walekar had gone on a 10 day tour to Uttaranchal.

Alok Bafna

According to his friend Baba Bhoir, "On Monday late evening, we received a call from a friend claiming that Bafna is no more. Bafna was sitting in an SUV adjacent to the driver. Suddenly, a huge boulder fell on the road from a 50 feet height making a huge impact. To check what was going around, Bafna peeped out of the car window when another boulder hit his head. He was immediately rushed to hospital but was declared dead. The incident took place on Monday around 7.30 pm."

He added, "Bafna was an adventurous person. We had a disaster management cell in which Bafna was one of the active participants, In fact, in past he was one of our volunteers who had rushed to Uttaranchal after the natural disaster which had struck."

A post mortem was conducted on him on Tuesday which suggests death was due to head injuries. The body is being brought to Pune Military van after all the necessary formalities were done.

The funeral will be conducted on Wednesday at his hometown in Dhule. Bafna is survived by his parents, wife, toddler son and a daughter.