‘Haven’t been eating or sleeping properly’: Kin of Bengal man missing after Chennai floods
Chennai is among the states hit by Cyclone Michaung which made a landfall in Andhra Pradesh last week.
4 min read
Dipak Bagdi (left) and his parents Sridhar Bagdi and Bharti Bagdi. They last talked to their son on December 4. (Express File Photo)A 21-year-old migrant labourer hailing from West Bengal’s Bankura district and working in flood-hit Chennai has allegedly been missing since the past six days, officials said on Sunday.
A resident of Shiromanipur village under Sonamukhi police station in Bankura district, Deepak Bagdi was the sole earner of the family. His elder sister is married. His parents Sridhar Bagdi (55) and Bharti Bagdi (48) have filed a missing persons’ complaint with the police. They last spoke to him on December 4 and his phone has been switched off since.
“My wife and I have lost our sleep and haven’t been eating properly. We haven’t talked to our son on phone ever since the cyclone hit Chennai,” said Sridhar, adding that Deepak lived in Velachery area in south Chennai.
Chennai is among the states hit by Cyclone Michaung which made a landfall in Andhra Pradesh last week. Following the landfall, rain battered several parts of Chennai and other states. In Chennai, at least 12 people were killed in the aftermath of the cyclone.
Deepak’s parents said their son was not registered as a migrant worker with the Bengal government’s records and this was the fourth time in the past two-three years that he had left home to work as a migrant worker. This time, he left for Chennai in November.
Sridhar said that an agent arranged the job for his son and he worked at a construction site in Chennai. “Shyamal Ghosh, who lives in the nearby Dholai village, arranged the job for Deepak. He took my son to Chennai,” said Sridhar.
The couple got to know about their son’s disappearance after a call from Shyamal on December 4 (Monday). “Shyamal called last Monday around 2.30 pm. My wife had picked up the call and he asked her to pass the phone to me. He told me that my son was missing. I was shocked. Since then, whenever I call Shyamal, he says he is looking into it. I went to Sonamukhi police station to register a missing person’s diary. Police said they will need Chennai police’s missing person’s diary. Finally, they took it today,” Sridhar told The Indian Express.
Shyamal said that it was Deepak’s site supervisor in Chennai who told him about the latter’s disappearance. “On Monday at 10 am, the site supervisor called and told me that Deepak could not be reached. Deepak probably went missing around Sunday night when he was returning home from the site. There was flooding in the area. That’s when Deepak lost contact with his colleague Rahul Bagdi. He has been untraceable since then,” said Shyamal.
As Sridhar and Bharti await for more information about their son, the authorities have assured them of help. BJP MLA from Sonamukhi Diwakar Gharami said, “I received the news about Deepak Bagdi’s disappearance in Chennai a little late. Today, I will go to Shiromanipur village and meet Deepak’s family. I heard the family went to the police station and now a complaint has been filed.”
Sonamukhi’s Block Development Officer Priyanka Hati said, “We have come to know about the matter. Deepak Bagdi is still missing. Inquiries are being made as to who was with him (at the time of his disappearance). The state control room has also been informed of the case.”
Meanwhile, Deepak’s neighbours are demanding intervention from top officials to trace him. Speaking to The Indian Express, Deepak’s neighbour Abhijit Banerjee said, “We are still clueless about his whereabouts. Finally, a missing diary has been registered. We have informed the BDO’s office and others that Deepak has been missing since December 5.”
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