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Indian on pilgrimage fails to return home from Pakistan
Amarjit Singh, 24, was part of a Sikh Jatha that returned on Saturday.
A search is underway in Pakistan on Sunday to find an Indian national who went on a 10-day pilgrimage as part of the Sikh Jatha and has not returned home.
Amarjit Singh, 24, from village Niranjanpura in Punjab’s Amritsar district, went missing in Lahore after failing to collect his passport from the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), the organisation that oversees religious pilgrimages for minorities in Pakistan.
Officials at the board said that Singh had arrived in Lahore along with other Sikh pilgrims to celebrate Baisakhi festival. His disappearance was only noticed when the entourage he came along with on April 12 embarked upon the return journey to India. The jatha returned to Amritsar on Saturday.
Singh’s passport, like those of other pilgrims, was with officials of the ETPB, who immediately informed the higher authorities when Singh failed to collect it within the stipulated time.
An initial probe found that he disappeared upon reaching Lahore from Nankana Sahib. A search to find him is underway.
Pakistani media speculated that he may also have married a Pakistani as did Kiran Bala, who converted to Islam, and married a Lahore-based man.
Officials of the board and the Pakistan’s foreign office are yet to give any statement on the whereabouts of Singh.
He earlier reportedly worked in Malaysia, but had been living at home and helping his family with their agriculture business for past two months. (With inputs from agencies)
