Kerala CM asks Defence Minister to provide more Navy divers, ROV to search for driver Arjun

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday requested Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to order deployment of additional divers and advanced equipment like Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) to search for the missing lorry driver Arjun.

More than 10 days have gone by since Arjun, hailing from Kerala, went missing in the landslide at Shirur village in Karnataka and his whereabouts are yet to be ascertained.

Vijayan, in a letter to Singh, sought the Defence Minister's urgent intervention in the rescue operations by providing additional help from the Indian Navy, which has expert personnel who can do deep diving and substantially help in the search for Arjun.

"I request your immediate personal intervention for deploying additional divers from various naval commands, including from southern and eastern, along with advanced equipment, like Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), as this will help the rescue operations in a big way," the CM said.

Vijayan also told Singh that the Government of Kerala was constantly in touch with the Karnataka government for real time updates about rescue operations.

The Kerala CM also wrote to his counterpart in Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, informing him about the assistance sought from the Centre.

"I have written a letter to the Union Minister of Defence, requesting his urgent personal intervention for providing additional divers and advanced equipment from the Indian Navy," he said in his letter to the Karnataka CM.

Vijayan said that he felt that requesting additional teams of expert divers and advanced equipment from the Indian Navy "can help the rescue operations in a big way".

He also told Siddaramaiah that the Kerala government was in continuous contact with the District Administration, Shirur, to get updates regarding the ongoing search for Arjun.