Elder brother located, younger still missing

Amit Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 27

One of the two Gorkha brothers from Jammu, missing since the high-magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal and adjoining areas, has been found while the other is yet to be located.

The family of Rikhi Ram, a priest at Gorkha Nagar in Jammu, got some relief after receiving a telephone call from Nepal. He talked to his elder son Bharat (30), missing in Kathmandu since the earthquake.

Rikhi Ram’s younger son Prakash (24) is still missing. A postgraduation student of Mahendra Sanskrit University in Kathmandu, he had been staying in paying guest accommodation near the campus.

“Prakash talked to his mother on Saturday morning. After the earthquake, he and his elder brother were reported missing,” said Rikhi Ram, a priest at Gorakhnath temple.

He said he received a telephone call from a number he did not know. The caller informed him about his elder son, who was shifted to a camp near Kathmandu airport. He talked to his son over telephone as well.

“We got some relief after talking to my elder son. He assured me that he would find his brother and they would come back soon,” he added with moist eyes.

Bharat got a job at a hotel in Kathmandu a month ago and shifted to Rudrapura in Nepal with his wife, one-year-old son and sister. His family was reported to be safe in Rudrapura.

The control room set up in Jammu had not received any new telephone call regarding missing person after two members of a Jammu family were reported dead and two others missing in Nepal.

Residents of Gorkha Nagar and Bahu Fort paid their tribute to the victims of the Nepal earthquake and prayed for the well-being of their relatives.

Hundreds of residents of Gorkha Nagar hailing from Nepal assembled at a local temple and paid tribute to the victims. They observed a two-minute silence and wished for the speedy recovery of the injured.

Aditi Sharma, social worker and Aditi Welfare India Charitable Trust president, interacted with local residents. She collected data from families whose members or relatives or were missing.