On Wednesday, somebody knocked on the door of Ghulam Hassan Dar, 60, an orchard owner.
Dar found Marouf, a truck driver he knew vaguely, had brought a stranger to his home. The stranger was introduced to Dar as his son, lost 20 years ago.
“We couldn’t believe it. We couldn’t recognise him, neither could he remember us. But he remembered the place from where he was picked up,” Dar said.
All these years, the Dar family has held the security forces responsible for his son’s disappearance.
Javaid Ahmad Dar was eight when he was taken by “unknown persons” while playing near his uncle’s house in Rajbagh, Srinagar on October 3, 1990.
According to Dar, Javaid has been working as a truck driver’s helper. He recently arrived in Rafiabad — a town 75 km north of Srinagar — where the Dars live, on a fruit truck.
“Marouf asked him about his parents. As he spoke Kashmiri and told the driver about his life, Marouf brought him to us,” Dar said.
“He does not remember who took him away. He says he had an accident and lost his memory,” said Suhail Ahmad, chief of the Rajbagh police station, where Javaid’s missing report was filed.
{{/usCountry}}“He does not remember who took him away. He says he had an accident and lost his memory,” said Suhail Ahmad, chief of the Rajbagh police station, where Javaid’s missing report was filed.
{{/usCountry}}“The scar on his nose is the only identification he is our lost son,” said Dar.
The family, however, has decided to go for a DNA test.
For that, Dar will have to seek the high court’s permission and if he gets the nod, travel to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.