There have been no whereabouts of Indian School of Mines (ISM) Dhanbad student Anurag Jagtap (18), who went missing when he did not reach Pune as expected on December 20, 2015. His mother filed a police complaint with the Pune Government Railway Police (GRP) on December 21, 2015 and later with the Howrah GRP on December 25.

Anurag last spoke to his parents on December 18 at 9:30 PM, informing his mother that he would be boarding the Azad Hind Express from Howrah Junction to reach Pune, his hometown. But when he did not reach home, his mother, Mrs Varsha Bharat Jagtap, went to the Pune GRP to file a missing person report. She had to handle the situation alone in Pune, as her husband is posted in Gandhinagar. Anurag’s parents have been in touch with the Pune GRP to get updates about their missing son. According to Mrs Jagtap, the Pune GRP have not been very supportive and had not started any investigations.

When PaGaLGuY spoke to Mrs Jagtap, she complained that nothing substantial has been done by the police till now. “We filed a missing person report with the Pune GRP six days ago, but they have not yet investigated this matter. My husband and I had to come to Howrah to ask the city GRP to help find our son.” When Anurag’s parents reached Howrah on December 25, a different problem cropped up.

According to government norms, a missing person report can be filed at one place only. Mrs Jagtap continued, “My husband had to request the Howrah GRP to file a complaint telling them ‘if you will not help us, where will we go?’ We also met the Additional Directorate General of Howrah Police today (December 26), to expedite the investigation. The ADG replied, ‘we have started the investigation’.”

PaGaLGuY spoke to both the Pune and Howrah GRP offices to get updates about their investigations. Authorities at the Pune GRP said, “We filed an FIR with ‘zero number’, which has been transferred to the Howrah GRP. Now they will be handling the case.” Mrs Jagtap complained that the Pune GRP has not transferred any such report to the Howrah GRP. Her husband had to file another complaint with the Howrah GRP.

Swapan Das, Investigating Officer at the Howrah GRP, said, “The investigation is in process. We have sent a message to all GRPs across India. Also, a message has been sent to the CID Missing Squad to probe in this matter.”

Mrs Jagtap and Anurag’s friends describe him as a jolly person. “He is relaxed and calm in nature. Apart from logic and coding, he cares about society. He is a member of the college Handball team and Kartavya, a non-profit voluntary group at ISM,” say Anurag’s friends.

His mother has requested if anybody gets any information about Anurag, they can contact her on +919405377036