Elderly man goes missing while returning from Tirupati, divyang son pleads for help

An elderly man hailing from Jaguli Patana village in Khordha, went missing while returning from Tirupati on Yesvantpur-Howrah Superfast Express on January 31. Failing to trace the whereabouts of the elderly man, his divyang son has pleaded for help finding his father. 

As per reports, the elderly man, identified as Anath Swain, aged 71 years, set out on the Tirupati pilgrimage on January 28 with 138 others. After darshan and before boarding the train on January 31, he had a conversation with his son, Biswaranjan Swain, and his daughter. However, when his son and daughter again tried to contact him, he didn’t answer the calls. 

Worried over this, they contacted another person from the pilgrim group. It was then that they learned that their father went missing from the train at night in mid-journey. 

Missing Person

As his son told, Anath boarded the train and was taking rest after his dinner. However, at night, he went to the toilet and after that no one in the group saw him.

Upon the arrival of the train at Khordha station, his family members thoroughly searched all the bogies with the hope of finding him, but all in vain. Later, they filed a missing complaint at GRP station.

The same day, Biswaranjan along with his brother-in-law and a few others, set out for Vijayawada. They also inquired about Anath in the locality near Tenali junction, where he was last seen by the pilgrim group members at around 10 pm. 

“After searching in Tenali, again we went to Vijayawada and returned to Tenali where some people claimed of seeing him. Failing to find him there, we started searching for him at every station. We also searched for him in the proximity of all railway stations, market areas, and temples. We are still searching for him but have failed to trace him,” said Biswaranjan while talking exclusively with Odishatv.in.
 
“I have filed a missing complaint at Jatani police station. Even though we have been requesting the GRP officials at all other stations to help us, they are not cooperating with us. We could hopefully get some leads if we are allowed to see the CCTV footage. He may not even have any money to eat and might be in some other danger,” said Biswaranjan. 

He went on to add, “We are five children and I am the only son with a physical disability. We recently even lost our mother. Now, we can’t afford to take more pain. I request every generous person to help me find my father.”

Apart from appealing for help, he has also announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for the person who helps find his father.