20 years later,lost son returns

“Javeed went missing from Rajbagh on October 3,1990. He was living with his mother’s family. On October 4,my in-laws came to our house and told me that Javeed had not returned since the day before. We rushed to Srinagar and lodged an FIR at Police Station Rajbagh,”says Javeed’s father Ghulam Hussain Dar,49,a labourer from Ladoora village in Baramulla district.

Dar thought his son might have been picked by the Army. “I went to all the interrogation centres and jails in the state to trace my son as some one had told me that Javeed was picked up by Armymen,” recalls Dar. However,Javeed was never found.

Finally,he filed a case in the J&K High Court to know about their son’s whereabouts. “I never gave up hope of seeing my son again,” Dar says.

Last week,a man stood face to face with Dar and his family. He was brought by a truck driver from a neighbouring village. The man,the driver told the family,met him at the Sabzi Mandi in Srinagar and told him his life’s story. The man said he was Javeed,Dar’s lost son. But is he?

He looks like their son,the family says. But they want to be sure. So,they want him to undergo a DNA test before they can take him in. For now,he has been handed over to the Rajbagh Police Station.

Police have got to work and begun investigating the credentials of the man.

“ We are investigating but we are sure he is Dar’s son,” a police officer at Rajbagh Police Station said.