A 52-year-old climber had a fatal fall after he lost his grip on a handhold on the rockface of a Purulia hill he was scaling for the fifth time.

Amitava Sen, a resident of Diamond Park in Joka, was barely 10 feet from the top of Gajaburu when the tragedy struck on Tuesday afternoon.

The bank employee, who ignored a basic safety norm by climbing without a harness, fell 150 feet and dashed his head against a ledge. Sen’s body was later brought down by villagers.

Sen — who leaves behind his wife, son and daughter — was leading a four-member team from Mountain Quest, an adventure club in Thakurpukur. The other climbers in the group were Kaushik Bera, Pulok Ghosh and Amalesh Khan.

The quartet reached Purulia on Sunday and started climbing Gajaburu, around 35km from the town, around 8.30am on Tuesday.

“We decided that Amitavada would lead the climb as he had scaled Gajaburu four times. Pulok and Amalesh were to follow at a distance of 40-50 feet from each other,” said Bera, who was stationed at the base of the hill.

It was around 1pm when Sen, only 10 feet from the top, lost his grip on a handhold on the sheer rockface. “There was a short but sharp cry and then boulders started tumbling down. I looked up and saw Amitavada fall and hit a ledge 150ft below, his head crashing against the rock,” recalled Bera.

Ghosh reached the spot a few minutes later and found Sen lying lifeless.

Bera immediately contacted members of Mountain Quest in Calcutta, who alerted Arsa police station, nearly 30km from the hill base.

Officer-in-charge Ramesh Hazra and his team rushed to the spot but it was too late by then. Hazra later said the team had not informed the forest department or the police about the climb.

Sen’s wife Priyasree, a homemaker, and daughter Sohitree, a Class XII student, were in a state of shock. Son Soumyadeep, an engineer, is now in Italy. Neighbours said Priyasree was watching television when news about the tragedy flashed on the screen.

Veteran climber Parthasarathi Dutta said: “He (Sen) was very passionate about climbing. I remember going on an expedition with him in Purulia in my younger days. It was a great experience.”