Karachi, February 28: A Hindu youth was taken away by unidentified men minutes before he and his family were to cross the Wagah border to go for a pilgrimage in India, his sister has claimed and appealed to Pakistan Army chief and the government to ensure his safe return. Nirmala said her brother Om Prakash Kumar was taken away on February 21 from the Wagah border immigration office on the Lahore side and is still missing.

The family resides in Mirpurkhas in the southern Sindh province, about 230 kilometres northeast of Karachi. In a video message released late on Thursday on social media by a social worker Shiva Kachi, who runs a Hindu rights organisation Pakistan Darawar Ittehad (loosely translated as organisation for strong unity), Nirmala narrated that she and her family, including Prakash, were going to India for a pilgrimage to the Ganga. Pakistan: University Reportedly Targets Hindu Students for Celebrating Holi.

Nirmala, a doctor by profession, said some plain clothes men approached Prakash while all of them were at the immigration counter and started questioning him. They later took his passport, visa form and mobile phone and led him to another room, she said, adding, “When I inquired and started crying, one of the men told me to take my family back home.” “All we know is that afterwards those men took my brother away to an unknown location and he has not returned yet.” Pakistan: Rights Group Raises Concern over Abduction of Hindu Citizen on Way to India.

Although a week has passed since the disappearance, there has been no reaction from the government or the departments concerned related to it.

A large number of Hindus go to India for pilgrimage and other religious rituals every year from Sindh, which has the largest population of Hindus in Pakistan.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)