Whistle-blower goes missing in Uttarakhand

Three years after he got a government job, 32-year-old Anand Prakash smelt a rat in his place of work, the Public Works Department in Uttarakhand.

Three years after he got a government job, 32-year-old Anand Prakash smelt a rat in his place of work, the Public Works Department in Uttarakhand.

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Prakash, an assistant engineer, wanted to expose the corrupt, but went missing from his official quarters — a day before he was to visit his ailing father in Delhi.

The assistant engineer, posted in Uttarkashi, had got wind of a scam in a Rs 4.5-crore PWD project. But he was under tremendous pressure to compromise.

“Two of them (Prakash’s superiors) had even forced him to clear some bills. When he protested, he was threatened,” said his wife, Deeparchana. It was on September 19 that Deeparchana heard last from her husband.

After completing his B. Tech from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Prakash prepared for the civil services for four years before joining the PWD. “He always said that he would transform others in his office,” said Munni Devi, his mother-in-law.

She alleged that the day he went missing, his quarter was found unlocked.

But his wallet, mobile, Rs 7,500 in cash and ATM cards were intact. “We suspect that he was abducted at gunpoint,” she said.

Alleging that a case was registered only three days later, she said the police did not seal the house nor did they photograph the premises. She also alleged that three PWD officials were behind the incident.

M.A. Ganpaty, Inspector General of Police, Garhwal Region, said, “The CB-CID (Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department) is probing the case and, therefore, nothing can be divulged at this moment.”

Prakash’s younger brother Vidya Sagar said, “The PWD authorities hinted that Prakash might have committed suicide and would have got drowned in a river nearby — this is utter rubbish.”