Kathmandu, Jul 31 (PTI) Nepal's Home Ministry on Saturday asked the country's media to not publish any "misleading" news related to the missing incident of a Nepalese national who is reported to have been washed away in Mahakali river that flows along the Indo-Nepal international border.

The incident took place on Friday in Darchula district along the Indian border when the man, who was going to his home in Khalanga, fell into the river while trying to cross it through an improvised cable carriage.

Vernacular newspaper Kantipur on Saturday published a banner headline related to the incident saying that India-Nepal border guarding force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) cut the cable while 35-year-old Jaisingh Dhami, a resident of Vyas Rural Municipality, was crossing the river, following which he fell down and went missing.

The report further said that the man was trying to cross the river on his way to Kathmandu in search of employment. He was compelled to pass through the Indian territory to reach the district headquarters as there was no other alternative. The SSB personnel untied the cable as he was crossing the river, the report claimed.

Later in the day, the Home Ministry issued a statement, asking the media to not disseminate "misleading" information, as the incident is under investigation.

The ministry spokesperson, Fanindramani Pokharel, in the statement asked all concerned "not to publish any misleading news in the matter as the incident (SSB untying the cable) has not yet been proven true".

Expressing sadness over the incident, the ministry directed the local administration and the security agencies to find out the exact cause of the mishap.

A team of security forces have been deployed to the incident site for fact finding purposes, the statement said.

In a separate statement, Assistant Chief District Officer of Darchula, Jyotsana Bhatta, said that her office has sent a letter to the local authority concerned in India to help to initiate action for finding the facts related to the incident.

Meanwhile, officials in New Delhi on Friday said authorities from India and Nepal have launched a hunt for the Nepalese national.

According to the Indian officials, the man is stated to have jumped in the river from the carriage of the tuin (a makeshift ropeway with a box attached for seating) he was clinging to after he saw an approaching SSB patrol.

Officials said the man was crossing over to the Indian side "illegally" using the tuin and was coming from Darchula in Nepal to Gasku in Dharchula in Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district.

The SSB, its Nepalese counterpart Armed Police Force (APF) and local authorities from both sides are coordinating to trace the man, they said.

The SSB troops who were present on the spot later wound up the tuin arrangement to ensure that such illegal attempts to cross the border are thwarted in the future, the officials said.

Some others waiting on the Nepalese side to cross using the tuin and its operators ran away soon after they saw the SSB patrol, the officials said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)