Odisha BJP leader, 3 kin remain missing after Sikkim car accident, 4 others return home

Bhubaneswar: Odisha BJP leader Itishree Jena and three other members of her family remained missing after a car accident in Sikkim, while four other relatives of hers returned home in Jajpur district on Monday.

On Thursday evening, a tourist vehicle carrying 11 people, including six people of Itishree's family, four others and the driver, plunged nearly 1,000 feet into the Teesta River in Sikkim while returning from Gangtok. The accident occurred between Chungthang and Munshithang when the vehicle skidded off a hilly road.

While four people, including Itishree, the Odisha BJP Mahila Morcha state secretary, remained missing; her son and nephew were among those rescued by Sikkim Police and they are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Gangtok, with her nephew being in critical condition, BJP MLA Akash Das Nayak said.

Four others, who reached Jajpur Road railway station on Monday, were in another vehicle which did not meet with the accident. They were identified as Itishree's two sisters Manjulata Deo and Jharana Mahapatra, and two nieces Jani and Guni, Das Nayak, the local MLA, said.

Das Nayak, who has been monitoring the accident since day one, said, "There is no trace of Itishree and three other members of her family even as her hand bag and mobile phone have been recovered. The rescue operation in the Himalayan state has been affected due to rain and rise in water level in Teesta River."

Narrating the ordeal, Itishree's elder sister Manijuata Deo said, "Eleven people of our family were travelling in two cars. While I was in a car with four others, Itishree and five others of our family were in the second vehicle, which met with the accident." Deo (65) said they did not know that the second vehicle had skidded off the road.

"Suddenly, our driver said the headlights of the second vehicle could not be seen. We returned to locate them but could not find them. Later, the police rescued the two youths by tracking the mobile phones," she said.

She said they were still hopeful of Itishree and the other missing persons' survival. She hoped they might have been swept away in the river and remained alive.

Das Nayak said Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has called up his Sikkim counterpart Prem Singh Tamang and sent a team of officials to monitor the rescue operation.

"Puri MP Sambit Patra, who is also the BJP's in-charge of Sikkim, is also monitoring the rescue operation," Das Nayak added.