Delhi youth missing in Amarnath yatra still untraced

NEW DELHI - A youth from Delhi, who went missing while on the Amarnath yatra in Jammu and Kashmir ten days back, is yet to be traced. His family members alleged he was drugged and robbed by two policemen, who then left him at a roadside eatery.

Rohtas Lohiya had gone to visit the shrine along with his friends July 16 but was found missing from the group two days later.

Though Pahalgam police station lodged a missing report July 21 on the complaint of Rohtas’ friends, but even after a week, they have been unable to trace him, his younger brother Sushil Lohiya said.

He said Rohtas’ friends came to know about his disappearance when they reached the shrine, and rushed to the nearest police station to report the matter. “Police searched for my brother but they could not find him.”

“As we were searching for him and showing his photograph, it was a doctor in a army base camp who recognised him. He told us that my brother was brought by two police personnel in a drugged condition,” said Sushil, who returned from Pahalgam Thursday. The army camp was based at Sangam point in Pahalgam.

The doctor also informed him that those personnel brought his brother at 2 p.m. July 19. “The doctor said that my brother was not mentally stable. He could not remember his name and the place from where he came. After giving the necessary medical treatment, the doctor handed over my brother to the police personnel,” he said.

From the medical records and witnesses over there, Rohtas’ family and relatives found that he was last seen with Assistant Sub-Inspector Mohammad Abdullah and constable Mohan Lal.

“I and some other family members went to Pahalgam and after talking to various people I was shocked to know that the same people who are here to provide security to the pilgrims, looted my brother and then left him instead of taking him to a safe place,” Sushil said.

Satish Lohiya, Rohtas’ elder brother of Rohtas, alleged that these policemen looted his brother of Rs.11,830.

“After returning from the base camp, those police personnel left my brother in a roadside dhaba (eatery) before taking out the money from him. The owner of the dhaba, where he (Rohtas) was last seen, informed me about this,” he said.

Rohtas’s elder brother and friends are still searching for him in Pahalgam asking people and security personnel and visiting the police station every day. “Even the army tried to search for him but they could not find him,” Satish said.

When contacted, north Kasmhir’s Superintendent of Police, Mir Imitiaz Husain brusquely said they are investigating the case. He did not answer if any action was being taken against the two police personnel accused by Rohtas’ family of robbing the youth.