Family of missing Phd Scholar stages protest, seeking his whereabouts

Srinagar: Family members and relatives of missing Phd Scholar staged a massive protest here in Kashmir capital Srinagar on Monday.
Carrying placards, the protesters mostly women from Bemina locality of Srinagar emerged in Press Enclave Srinagar. They demanded the whereabouts of Basit Hilal, who went missing recently while accompanying his friends in Naranag area of Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
Police had said that Hilal had refused to accompany his friends to Gangabal Lake for trekking and had asked them that he will wait at Naranag till they return. His friends found him missing when they returned from trekking.
Yesterday rumours were rife that he was one among the three militants killed in Srinagar encounter. However, those rumours proved baseless later on.
“We were surprised and shocked when some people from either police or any agency approached us and asked us to identify our missing son. They told us that our son might be the one among the three militants killed in Srinagar encounter. We faced a lot of trauma and perplexity. Police should have at least confirmed first before approaching us,” the protesting family said.
They said that they are really shocked that the phone of Hilal is not being tracked as being requested by them. “We appeal police and agencies to track his phone so that his location can be traced. He has never gone missing and never switched off his phone,” they said.
The missing scholar according to his family has done his Phd from Kashmir University and from past 3 years he was doing job in New Delhi. “He returned Kashmir after the outbreak of Coronavirus. He went for trekking with his friends and didn’t return. We appeal police to help us in locating him,” they said.