Sexagenarian in capital in search of his missing son

Bhubaneswar: A Sexagenarian Gopinath Pradhan of Belapada village under Kanas police limit in Puri district while moving on Lower PMG here met the Jagdev- “the Conqueror” bureau and pleaded me for help after he was refused by an auto-rickshaw to locate an address to him.

With a sorrowful heart Pradhan approached me with an old newspaper to express his disheartened statement. When asked about the matter, he said to locate an address of his elder son Sunil Pradhan (29) who had gone missing since 2010 that had appeared in an Odia daily. He showed me the paper where a youth looks like his son appeared in the photo with some address written in it.

Noting all of his conversation which stated that Pradhan had asked the same question to many auto-drivers, but he could not get any satisfied answer from them. Finally he broke down into tears and sat on the road culvert helplessly.

When I asked him about his problem, the well-dressed old man said, “I’m a helpless man searching for my lost son since 2010,” adding, “I can’t live more days without him. My wife is bedridden thinking about our son.” His tone was trembling with choking emotions and told the whole story before me.

Pradhan informed that his missing son had gone to his brother-in-law’s house Hadia Sahu at Gualipada under Delanga police limit in the district on September 5, 2010. When he didn’t return to home, Pradhan telephoned his daughter Swapna, wife of Hadia, inquiring about Sunil’s whereabouts and told them to send him back to home. But later Pradhan was informed that Sunil left his sister’s house leaving the cycle in what he rode.

“At first we thought he might have gone to his friend’s house, but later we filed a missing case at Kanas Police Station on September 15, 2010 when he didn’t return to home,” said Pradhan.

The old man further continued that he asked Hadia Das to file a missing case, but he didn’t listen to them. He pleaded the police to bring his son back and filed as many as 12 FIRs regarding this case, but nobody paid heed to his requests. They had returned a copy of an FIR on March 14 this year. When Pradhan’s family failed to get any help from the police, they knocked the door of the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) last year seeking help to bring Sunil back to home.

“When all quarters kept mum in the matter, I started my journey to search my son. I spent 20 days in a month to find out my son,” lamented Pradhan, adding, “I have spent thousands of rupees selling my land to search my son.”

Pradhan further said two lawyers of Delanga and Odisha High Court cheated him promising to file case in the court.

As his son was a driver in profession, Pradhan went to Puri, Paradip, Bhubaneswar, Brahmapur, Koraput, Rayagada, Rajgangpur, Sundargarh, Kandhamal, Rourkela, Cuttack and a few other places to find out him. Three years passed, but he did not leave any stone unturned in searching for his son. On Friday, during his marathon search, he came to Bhubaneswar and was asking the auto drivers about his son.

When I contacted Pradhan’s younger son Sushil, he informed that his brother-in-law Hadia Sahu had eloped with his sister Swapna and then married her 12 years back. We didn’t have any good relation with him, but after few years our elder brother bridged the gap between the two families. In due course of time, his elder brother had gone to Sahu’s house and didn’t return from that day.

“Sahu’s cousin staying in Salia Sahi had promised to find out my brother and had asked money for that. We believed him and went with him to Salia Sahi, but we got cheated,” said Sushil over phone.

“I will continue my journey to search my son as we can’t live without him. Who will forget his own blood,” questioned Pradhan and then continued his journey to reach to that address after getting information from me.