In cacophony of elections, Barwala man looking for his missing son
In crime files, Sunil Kumar is nothing but Serial Number 5. For Kashmiri Lal Chopra, his son was the shining light of life. As Haryana is busy with the colours and din of the 16th Lok Sabha elections, this man’s only mission is to find his son, dead or alive.
In crime files, Sunil Kumar is nothing but Serial Number 5. For Kashmiri Lal Chopra, his son was the shining light of life. As Haryana is busy with the colours and din of the 16th Lok Sabha elections, this man’s only mission is to find his son, dead or alive.
Once a staunch Congress worker, the around 60 years old roadside vendor Kashmiri Lal Chopra says his only son Sunil went missing in 2005 from the ashram of a sect. He says Sunil went missing “after he informed the headquarters of the sect about an alleged sex racket going on inside the ashram”.
In its list of missing persons in Haryana, the National Crime Records Bureau shows Chopra’s son on number 5, missing since July 26, 2005. Even a special investigation team (SIT) was formed to locate his son but nothing helped.
“For the past eight years, I am asking for nothing but at least the body of my only son, so that I can perform his last rites,” Chopra breaks down.
Leaving his work three weeks ago, he is traversing the roads of his hometown Barwala in protest. His cart — from which he earns his livelihood — carries portraits of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and chief minister Bhupinder Singh, garlanded with shoes.
In 2011, when he had raised slogans against Congress leaders during Hisar Lok Sabha bypoll for not helping despite promises, he was badly beaten up by a Youth Congress leader.
“They tell people that other parties are paying me for all this. I just want to know: How can I do politics on my son’s dead body? Can any leader do the same thing for money if he loses his child?” he asks.