Pandharkawada: On August 4, 60-year-old Gulab Mokashe, a resident of Wedshi village, left in the morning along with his 55-year-old brother Nathu Mokashe and cattle from the village to the hilly areas surrounding the village's farms to graze in the shrubs. It was a regular day and, with an errand back in the village, the brother returned home at 6 pm.

The sun was on its way down by 6.30 pm and Gulab was expected back. It would have been a regular day had it not been for the fact that Gulab didn't return home, prompting Nathu, at 8 pm, to walk to the local sarpanch's home to raise an alarm. Ankush Muneshwar, the village's 53-year-old sarpanch says that it was raining heavily that night and so, hoping that Gulab was delayed while taking shelter from the rain, they waited till 9.30 pm. And when that didn't happen, they called the forest department, which reached the village immediately. Night had fallen hard and it was too late to launch a search operation.