Cameron Highlands district police chief Azri Ramli said Nandan Suresh Nadkarni checked into Hikers Sleep Port Guesthouse in Tanah Rata on Sept 19 and should have checked out on Sept 24.

“On Sept 25, the police received a report by the hotel manager that the man had been missing since Sept 22.

“Inspection of the hotel’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage found that he had left the hotel on Sept 22 at 9am and did not return.

“The preliminary police investigation found that he had left alone to hike along Trail 10 of Gunung Jasar, based on CCTV footage obtained around the Tanah Rata area,” he said.

A search-and-rescue operation has been mounted for Nandan with the participation of various agencies, including the fire and rescue department, the civil defence force, forest rangers and tracker dogs, and several NGOs.