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Raj tourist's body found in Jalpaiguri

Siliguri: The body of one of the tourists missing since Wednesday, after their SUV fell into the Teesta, was found at Gazaldoba in Jalpaiguri on Friday evening.

It was identified as that of Aman Garg (26) by family members who came down from Jaipur. Garg’s body was swept away by the Teesta for about 60km from the accident spot, police said.

It hit the Teesta Barrage at Gazaldoba and was found floating in the river there.

“The body of one of the missing tourists was found at Gazaldoba on Friday,” Darjeeling SP Amarnath K said. “The operation to rescue the other tourist and the SUV driver is on at Gazaldoba and at Sevoke. The operation is primarily at Sevoke.”

Garg was among two tourists from Jaipur who were heading to Gangtok in Sikkim on an SUV when it plunged into the Teesta near Coronation Bridge on NH-10. Garg and Gaurav Sharma (24) had landed in Bagdogra airport on Wednesday.

Sharma is still missing as also car driver Rakesh Rai (34), a resident of Bhanu Nagar in Siliguri.

Sharma’s younger brother Akash, however, said there were three tourists and a driver in the SUV travelling to Sikkim. “There were three people travelling on board. They were going to Sikkim on a company trip. The third tourist’s name is Gopal,” Akash said.

The Darjeeling district administration, however, insisted there were only two tourists in the vehicle that met with the accident. “There were two tourists from Rajasthan and a local driver in the vehicle. The rescue operation is on,” district magistrate Deepam Priya said.

The accident happened after the SUV the tourists had hired from a Siliguri tour operator left NH-31A and entered NH-10. Witnesses said the vehicle was approaching Coronation Bridge around 12.30pm along a slope when it tried to overtake another. This is when the driver appeared to lose control over the vehicle, witnesses and residents said.

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