SAPTARI: The Armed Police Force (APF) has resumed its search operation early Friday morning to locate two missing divers in the Saptakoshi River. During the search, one body has been recovered.

Deputy Superintendent of Armed Police Force and Assistant Spokesperson Shailendra Thapa confirmed that the body of officer Hardev Rajbanshi was found approximately three kilometers south of the incident site earlier this morning.

Rajbanshi and another officer, Suraj Saud, went missing on Thursday afternoon during a monsoon preparedness drill in the Koshi River at Hanumannagar Kankalini Municipality-1 in Saptari district.

Rajbanshi was deployed from Shree Antu Battalion, Ilam, and was undergoing special operations training at the Dantakali Special Task Training School in Saptari. Saud was assigned to the No. 13 Battalion in Parsa and served at the Chhinnamasta Brigade Headquarters.

A total of 56 personnel had been deployed for the disaster preparedness drill in the river starting from 7:45 AM on Thursday. The two officers went missing at around 3:10 PM during the exercise.

In response, a special search and rescue operation involving around 60 trained personnel has been mobilized, including divers from the Dantakali Training School in Saptari, No. 6 Battalion in Saptari, and the Disaster Management Training School in Kurintar.

The search operation has intensified. On Friday morning, 35 personnel, including four divers, were deployed under DSP Bijay Hamal from the Dantakali training center. Additionally, 20 trained personnel under DSP Bipin Deshar from the No. 6 Battalion in Saptari were dispatched to aid the operation.Search efforts continue for officer Suraj Saud, who remains missing in the river.