1 week later, ONGC engineer still missing; father sees foul play

“I am leaving the city now. I was in Mumbai from February 25. I have not got any satisfactory answers from anyone, nor have they been able to find his body. My wife Sibi is unwell, and my mother Shashma Baby is also unwell and hospitalised,” said Reji Varghese, the father of the engineer – Enos Varghese.

Mumbai: The father of the 26-year-old electrical engineer, who went missing from an Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) platform last week, suspected foul play in his son’s disappearance.

“One of our relatives told my mother about the incident which further deteriorated her health. When they called me, they told me that my son jumped into the sea. He was never disturbed. He had spoken to his mother and was to soon return home. However, later we learnt from his friends that he had chatted with them and told them that his life was in danger from another person,” said Reji, a retired army personnel who hails from Adoor, Kerala. (HT PHOTO)

“I am leaving the city now. I was in Mumbai from February 25. I have not got any satisfactory answers from anyone, nor have they been able to find his body. My wife Sibi is unwell, and my mother Shashma Baby is also unwell and hospitalised,” said Reji Varghese, the father of the engineer – Enos Varghese.

Verghese has been missing since February 24. He was working as an electrical engineer with System Protection, a Gujarat-based company, that had deployed its men on the ONGC platforms at Bombay High South (BHS). He had gone to the platform on February 12.

“One of our relatives told my mother about the incident which further deteriorated her health. When they called me, they told me that my son jumped into the sea. He was never disturbed. He had spoken to his mother and was to soon return home. However, later we learnt from his friends that he had chatted with them and told them that his life was in danger from another person,” said Reji, a retired army personnel who hails from Adoor, Kerala.

“He was not the one who will commit suicide. There is something more to it. We want the police to conduct a thorough investigation,” said Reji.

Meanwhile, the police said they have recorded statements of people on-board the platform and colleagues of Enos but have not found any concrete lead as yet.

“We are not sure how he went missing. There are no CCTV cameras in the area from where he was said to have jumped into the sea. The search operation is still on to find him. Also, as the lights were off, nobody could have seen anything,” said Sarla Vasave, senior police inspector of Yellow Gate police station.

Meanwhile, joint commissioner of police, Law and Order, Satyanarayan Chaudhary said, “DCP port zone himself visited the spot and recorded statements of Enos’ colleagues. There is no foul play. However, a thorough investigation will be done.”

Another police official said after seeing him jump into the sea, one of his colleagues had thrown a safety wheel at him, to help him save himself. But he didn’t catch it. “It looks like a death by suicide. But we do not know the reason behind it yet,” said a police officer.

A spokesperson for ONGC said it’s a very unfortunate incident and the rescue operation is still going on.