Police Inspector Manjunath Nayak asked Ranjitdas to share the details of his live location on the phone, using which they could track him, and offer assistance.
Khanapur, Belagavi: A satellite-powered navigational tool guided a family from Ujjain into the dark, dense forests of the Western Ghats, where they endured an agonising ordeal before being rescued by the police.
The Ujjain-based family, on its way to Porvorim in Goa to attend a programme, used Google Maps to help navigate the journey and was directed through what would have, but for the recent spell of inclement weather, been a shorter route to the neighbouring state. Unfortunately, the road, having turned slushy owing to the recent showers, proved impossible to negotiate, and the family was stuck in the forests of the Western Ghats near Khanapur.
Rajdas Ranjitdas from Ujjai, who was driving the car, steered the vehicle on a shortcut to Goa after reaching the Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in Belagavi district. This route, the map promised, would reduce the distance by 25km. While it was smooth sailing till he made it to the Sindhnur-Hemmadga State Highway, the narrow road that ran through the forests had disappeared under a thick film of slush. Around 10 pm on Wednesday, the car was stuck in the slush on the road somewhere between Jamgaon and Krishnapur villages. It was understandably terrifying not just for Ranjitdas, but his wife, two children and mother.