Amritsar: Merchant Navy officer Harjot Singh’s kin want Odisha Govt, marine authorities to trace him

Neeraj Bagga

Amritsar, June 23

The family members of 29-year-old Harjot Singh, who has been missing, have been making representations to the Odisha Government and marine authorities to help trace him as his ship was anchored at Odisha’s Dhamra port.

A night before his birthday, on June 17, he went missing. The lone brother of three sisters, Harjot was a bachelor. So they sent representations to Bhubaneswar District Magistrate, Incharge of Port Authority Paradip, and others to trace Harjot and rescue him. His sister Rajwinder Kaur and her husband are camping near Dhamra port to know his whereabouts.

Harjot’s father, Kuldeep Singh, said he received a call from an official who identified himself as Shaurya from an offshore location on the intervening night of June 16 and 17. “The officials asked me if Harjot knew swimming. He told me that my son had slipped into the sea.”

A sobbing father, who drove a taxi for over four decades for a living and to fund quality education for his children, said he had been employed in the Merchant Navy for nine years. He said during this time he rose from a cadet to the rank of Second Officer. “One joins the Merchant Navy only after attaining a quality level of swimming.”

Harjot’s tense-looking mother, Jasbir Kaur, remembered those days when he had packed his luggage with joy before proceeding to join duty on the ‘Jal Vaibhav’ ship on January 10. In a shivering voice, she prayed to ‘Waheguru’ to extend help to locate his only son. She added that he rang up his father on Father’s Day, June 16, to greet him. He also told his father to stop driving a taxi, adding that he should take the family out for recreational activities as his Canada-based sister had returned home. Harjot is the youngest of his siblings. His eldest sister is a teacher at a government school. His other sister, Rajwinder Kaur, is a manager at the Partition Museum.

Harjot’s brother-in-law, Rajinder Singh, said the private merchant Navy company officials had not given them proper information on the situation. The family in a huddle at their house in Akali colony on the Sultanwind Road is waiting for positive news to reunite with their son.