Kothamangalam: A search operation is underway in Kuttampuzha for three women who went missing after venturing into the forest to find a lost cow. Maya Jayan, Parukkutty, and Darli were last seen on Thursday afternoon. The cow, which had gone missing on Wednesday, returned home, but the women did not, prompting concerns from their families.

Maya had contacted her husband by phone, informing him that they had encountered a wild elephant and fled in different directions. She remained in contact with her family until 4.15 pm, telling them she was sitting on a rocky area and requested a bottle of water. However, when forest officials asked for the exact location, she could not provide clear details. One of the local searchers remained in contact with Maya until 5 pm before the call was disconnected.

Earlier that day, Maya had initially gone alone in search of the cow. When she failed to locate it, she returned around 3 pm with Parukkutty and Darli and ventured deeper into the forest, heading toward the Munnipara area near an old medicinal plantation. Their home is located near the forest boundary.

The search, led by Forest Range Officer R Sanjeev Kumar and Kuttampuzha CI PA Faisal, involves four teams comprising 50 members. Using drone surveillance, the teams combed a six-kilometer radius within the forest until late Thursday night but were unable to find the women.

One of the search teams had a close encounter with an elephant at dusk but managed to escape unharmed. Police are now focusing their investigation on the last known location of Maya's phone to aid in the search efforts.