A 17-year-old boy from north Kashmir’s Kupwara district who was working with a mason in the Bemina area of Srinagar has been missing for nearly four months with his family alleging foul play.
Danish Ahmad Mir, a resident of Sher Kot Tarath Pura, had been working in Srinagar for over a month, when on April 5 this year, his family lost contact with him.
As per the family, before he went missing, Danish was angry with them over some issue. A family member said they inquired about Danish with the mason, who said that the teenager had told him he was leaving for home.
The family then filed a missing report in Vilgam Police Station. After a month on 19th May, the family received a call from an unknown number informing them that Danish was working at a cloth store in New Delhi.
Before they could ask more about his whereabouts, the call was disconnected, Danish’s maternal uncle Mohammad Sadiq told Greater Kashmir.
“We tried calling back on that number but didn’t get any answer,” Sadiq said. As per Sadiq, they received another phone call with the person on the other side saying that Danish was at Narwal Mandi Jammu.
“I told the caller to stay where they are and I will come to pick up Danish from there but he immediately disconnected the call and didn’t receive the call when I called back,” Sadiq said.
Around a month later, the family received another call from the same number with this time Danish on the other side, saying he was working at Batra Dhaba in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh.
While the family members were puzzled by the calls, on 30th June they received another call from the same number with the person identifying himself as Sajan who told them that they had sent Danish back home in a bus from Anand Vihar bus depot in Delhi.
The family also received a video in which Danish is seen saying “Mein ab ghar jaa raha hu, inse koi matlab nahi hai muje, mein inke mobile se phone kar raha tha, ab mein ghar ja raha hu. Is number pe call mat karna.” (I’m leaving for home and have nothing to do with these guys. I called you from their number and now I’m leaving. Don’t call their number).”
As the hopes of seeing their son grew, they received another call after five days from the same person, saying Danish is in Uttar Pradesh working at a cloth store.
Tired of false information about their kid, the family members decided to travel to the northern state themselves. “We reached Uttar Pradesh and went straight to the eatery in the Rampur district where the caller first said Danish was working and inquired the owner about him who confirmed that the child was working there but said that he had left for home,” a family member said.
As per family, the two men who had earlier called them and provided different locations of Danish were working in the same eatery. Sajan and Swami had accompanied Danish on his way from Srinagar to UP, said the family.
Danish’s uncle Sadiq and other family members who have been in Uttar Pradesh for the last ten days, say they have been visiting Civil Lines Police Station in Rampur district continuously since their arrival but the officials have failed to come up with any leads so far.
“We gave police every detail including call recordings and how the two men gave us the false information but they (police) seem reluctant to take any action,” alleged Sadiq.
Sadiq claimed that police officials make them wait for hours outside the police station without taking the investigation any further.
“They just tell us to call our relatives and check if Danish has called any of them. They haven’t yet called those two men for questioning who provided us false information about our son and for that reason we suspect either they have kidnapped or murdered him,” Sadiq further claimed.
Family members have appealed to J&K LG Manoj Sinha to intervene in the matter so the concerned officials speed up the investigation to find their son.
Station House Officer, Vilgam Police Station, Javaid Ahmad said that they have liaised with UP Police and that the latter has taken up the investigation process.
The family met SP Rampur, Ashok Kumar on Saturday who after going through videos and call recordings has directed the concerned SHO to speed up the investigation on priority basis, said PRO to SP Rampur.
When contacted, SP Handwara Sheema Nabi told news agency that they are in touch with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh. “We are in touch with the UP police on a daily basis and till now there have been no traces about the boy. Yes, the family is suspecting foul play but it’s not been proven yet and the police are investigating the matter. If we get any update, we will inform you,” SP Handwara Sheema Nabi.
This story would be updated as and when any details are received from the UP Police.