The Hindu : National : Boy lost from relief camp still missing

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 29, 2005

National

National

Boy lost from relief camp still missing

PORT BLAIR: Six months after the tsunami had wrought havoc in the Andaman islands, memories of the disaster still haunt Sergeant M. Venkataraman who lost his eldest son in the tragedy.

Sgt. Venkataraman's 13-year-old son V. Sreenivasan Arvind ran out of the house with his mother and two other siblings before the giant waves reached them.

After they went missing Sgt. Venkataraman, who was then posted at the Car Nicobar Air Force station, searched for them frantically, but to no avail. However, they were traced some days later. But Arvind was never found.

The Venkataramans had given up hope of finding their son till someone in Chennai, where the sergeant was transferred, gave the information that Arvind was alive, and was at the Nirmala school relief camp in Port Blair after being airlifted from Car Nicobar.

When Sgt. Venkataraman made inquiries, he was told by relief camp authorities that two unknown persons posing as the boy's uncles had taken him away.

As the authorities later retracted their statement, an exasperated Sgt. Venkataraman filed an FIR with a local police station alleging that his son had been kidnapped. As the police did not make much headway in the case, it has decided to seek help from one and all, including the media. — PTI

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National