A week after a trekker from Bemina here went missing from Gangbal area of Ganderbal, his family held a protest, urging authorities to intensify the searches to trace their kin.
A PhD scholar, Hilal Ahmed Dar had gone for trekking along with his friends on June 14. He has been missing since then through his friends returned to their homes.
Dar’s family members held the protest at Press Enclave asking about the whereabouts of their kin.
The protesters consisting mainly women members where holding placards which read “Save Hilal, Find him,” “Missing during trekking”.
The family members alleged that the authorities were not doing enough to trace their son. They urged authorities to mobilize all resources in order to trace whereabouts of their kin.
“On June 14, I got to know from Hilal’s WhatApp status that he has gone for the trekking. I immediately asked him to come back given the COVID situation, but he said he will be back soon. The same day his friends told us that Hilal has gone going missing on the trek route. Our family is going through hell as we have no clue about what has happened to him,” said Nisar Ahmed, Dar’s uncle. “Our son was very energetic and in good health. We fail to understand why he will ask friends to leave him there. This doesn’t make any sense. We want an intense investigation into the matter.”
“If he was held by security force, we want his release. We want authorities to use all the resources and question those who needed to be questioned so that we can have our son back.” he said.
The family members said as per the version of friends who accompanied him, Dar told his friends that he was exhausted and would not move forward.
“His (Dar’s) friends said when they came back Hilal was nowhere to be seen,” said the family members.
The family members appealed police and district administration to use all its men and machinery to trace their son. They appealed to Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, and Lt Governor of J&K to help them find their son.