15-year-old Sreenanda, who went Missing Near Manikyadhara Falls, Found Dead Three days later; Parents Suspect Foul Play

Key Points:

A search operation to find 15-year-old Sreenanda, a resident of Palakkad, Kerala, ended in tragedy after she was found dead on April 10, 2026. Sreenanda went missing during a family trip with her 40 relatives in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru district earlier this week. Tragedy struck when the family noticed that the young girl had gone missing during a tour of the Chandradrona hill ranges on April 7, 2026.

Authorities were alerted, and a search operation was conducted to locate the missing girl. Her body was recovered from a valley near Manikyadhara Falls, just 150 meters away from her last known location.

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Who was Sreenanda?

NDTV reported that Sreenanda was a Class 10 student who was on a family trip to Karnataka. Hailing from Palakkad, the family was touring with their extended relatives. Hope crumbled when the family discovered that their child, who had gone missing, was no longer alive. The family had initially suspected that Sreenanda had been kidnapped. They reported that they last saw her near the Manikyadhara region of the hills, and she reportedly went missing at around 6 p.m.

The Chikkamagaluru Rural Police led the investigation to locate the missing girl, who was suspected to have been abducted. However, three days later, they found her body.

The victim was the daughter of Ramesh and Rohini, who were among those who believed that their daughter would return home. As quoted by OnManorama, Sreenanda’s uncle, Ajith, said, “About ten minutes after we clicked a family photo and started walking down towards our jeeps, we realised Sreenanda was missing.”

Jitendra Kumar Dayama, Superintendent of Police, Chikkamagaluru, indicated that authorities are currently investigating the victim’s death to determine whether any foul play was involved. The SP further confirmed that a post-mortem examination has been conducted to ascertain Sreenanda’s cause of death.

How was Sreenanda’s body discovered?

As part of the investigation, a force of 60 teams was deployed to scour the local hills, while other teams were sent to neighbouring states in case of abduction. The investigators also tracked down 240 vehicles that were present at the site on the day of her disappearance. Her body was found hundreds of meters below the watchtower from where tourists usually view the waterfalls.

The victim’s family has hinted at foul play and claimed that the location from where her body was found had already been searched, as the site was just 150 meters away from where she went missing. Another theory suggested that Sreenanda may have fallen from a viewpoint. The police stated that the area does not have multiple entry points and is highly barricaded, raising the possibility that her death was an accident.

[VS]

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