Click to play videoValsad: Ten men from Gujarat working in a UAE-based marine service company, who went missing, have been traced to jails in Iran. They have been convicted for smuggling fuel. Their families allege their pleas to the government has gone unheeded.
One of the them is Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, whose family hasn't heard from him for almost eight months now.
Bhupendra belongs to a middle-class family from Valsad in Gujarat and his family lost contact with him in April 2010. The 20-year old completed a merchant navy course and joined the UAE-based Bin Khadim Marine Service in February. His father had even paid a Rs 2.5 lakh fee.
Bhupendra reached Sharjah and was in regular touch with his family, but abruptly stopped calling in April.
"We tried contacting him several times, but in vain. The company officials too did not give any proper answer and later even stopped taking calls," claims Bhupendra's father, Rajendra Singh Chaudhary.
In the search for their son, the Chaudharys contacted other families with children in the same company and realised Bhupendra wasn't the only one missing.
Several others had stopped contacting their families too.
Like others, Bhupendra's father Rajendra Singh wrote letters to many Indian authorities including the Indian Embassy in Tehran.
A month ago, he received a letter form the Ministry of Justice in Iran which said Bhupendra and nine others were arrested for fuel smuggling and sentenced to five years in jail.
"If a case was lodged against them and they were sentenced, why were we not even informed. This cannot be explained," he says.
The Chaudharys and the other families are wondering what Indian authorities will do and why they don't seem to be helping trace their son.
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