Subhash Sharma, 50, on Friday received a distressing message from an unexpected place after activating a duplicate SIM card for his missing son.
Harsh Nagotra, in his early 20s, went missing on June 11 from his hometown of Julian in Jammu. On Friday, his father Subhash saw several WhatsApp messages sent to Harsh’s number on four consecutive days from an unknown person in Pakistan. The messages said that Harsh’s body had been found in a canal across the border and was buried there. Police suspect that Harsh had jumped into the Chenab River to his death.
Subhash has now sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to bring his son’s body back to his hometown.
“We request the chief minister to help us recover my son’s body for the last rites as per our religion,” said Subhash, who works as a daily wage labourer with the Public Works Department.
Harsh, a graduate student, had been working in a telecom company in nearby Kullu district since December last year. Police investigating his disappearance suspect he may have committed suicide by jumping into Chenab after losing Rs 80,000 in an online gaming app, sources said.
Subhash said the family has already written to the Ministry of External Affairs, the Home Minister and the Prime Minister’s Office regarding the matter. Bharatiya Janata Party MP Jugal Kishore Sharma will take up the issue at a senior level with the central government on Monday, Subhash said.
The family has also urged Pakistani authorities to make arrangements for Harsh’s body to be sent back to his home country.
Hirsch is the eldest of Subhash’s two sons. On the morning of June 11, Hirsch went to work and never returned, Subhash recalled.
“I called my son’s mobile phone at around 7.45pm but it was switched off,” the grieving father said. “When he had not returned home by 9pm, I started contacting his colleagues but they told me he had left work in the morning after leaving his attendance record,” he said.
His family searched for him throughout the night and found his motorbike abandoned in Gula Manhasa area. On the morning of June 12, they filed a missing person’s report at Khur Police Station.
After weeks of finding no clues about his son’s disappearance, Subhash decided to have Harsh’s SIM card duplicated. Once the SIM card was activated on Friday, the family noticed frequent messages and calls from a Pakistani number. The message announcing Harsh’s death also included a photo of the ID card found on his body.
Subhash said he called the number and the man on the other end identified himself as an official from Pakistan’s “Coroner’s Department.”
“He told us that Harsh’s body was found across the border on June 13. He had been making frequent calls to the number mentioned on Harsh’s ID card and had also sent WhatsApp messages informing us of Harsh’s death. However, the number was not working at the time,” Subhash said.
© Indian Express Ltd.
First uploaded: 15 July 2024 07:21 IST
