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Son missing for 4 years, Japanese parents refuse to give up

Last Updated 06 December 2010, 13:43 IST

21-year-old Kota was last seen at an Agra hotel on September 3, 2006 during his first visit to the country. The young Japanese student who had embarked on a five-city trip was not proficient in English.

"I believe he is still alive and is somewhere in India," Eiko Shinozaki, the mother of the victim, told reporters here, after the hapless parents returned to New Delhi for the tenth time in the last four years-- as desperate as ever.

The family is still clinging to hope despite the CBI, which had started investigation in the case on the direction of the Prime Minister's Office, sending a report in March 2007 that their search had proved futile.

A student of Keio University, Kota arrived in India from Tokyo on September 3, 2006. He was on a 20-day trip to India and was to be on the flight back to Tokyo on September 23. His ticket though was valid upto a month.

Kota booked a tour package from a travel agency, 'Overseas India' with the intention of visiting places like Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Varanasi, Kolkata. According to the account given to police by a number of witnesses, Kota left Delhi for Jaipur on that same day with the appointed taxi driver, Raju, and then proceeded for Agra.

On Sept 5 -- the day he disappeared -- Kota visited o the Taj Mahal before reaching Hotel Chanakya, booked by the agency in Agra. As per the hotel record, Kota arrived around 5:20 pm in the evening and stayed in Room 104. He left the hotel for dinner with the driver and a tour guide Lalta Prasad Gautam, who was introduced to Kota by the former but he failed to return.

While the driver Raju claims Kota was dropped at the hotel around 8 pm, an eyewitness told the police that the young Japanese student was last seen with the duo and the hotel manager, Dharmendra Kumar Sharma, around 8:30 PM. However, the trail went cold from here.

"Kota contacted us last when he decided to go India. He did not contact us after reaching India," his mother said with the help of an interpreter.

After his air ticket expired in the first week of October, and he did not return, the frantic parents contacted Japanese Embassy and Consulates in India. Japanese Embassy in New Delhi lodged an official complaint of disappearance with the Chanakyapuri Police Station on October 17, 2006.

Police filed a charge sheet against seven accused, including three hotel employees, Sharma and Gautam, accusing them of abducting to murder under Section 364 (IPC). The other two accused are the hotel owner Kishori Lal Mahore and his son Harish Kumar Mahore. Kishori Lal is also a former mayor of Agra.

Hotel employees claimed that after being notified of Shinozaki's disappearance, the hotel owners ordered them to close his account immediately with a false check made in his name. The owners also warned the employees not to tell this to anyone.

The accused also underwent narco-analysis but still Shinozakis still have no clue what happened to their son.

"We just want him back to us," Eiko said with an innate poise which the Japanese are famous for. The family wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yet again last month seeking their help.

The Shinozakis are also planning to file a Habeas Corpus petition. The investigation too has been under a cloud. Out of the seven accused in the case, two have been granted bail and the third is in the process of applying for a bail.

The investigation documents by CBI cannot be found by the advocates hired by the Shinozakis and seem to have disappeared. The family members - mother, father and elder sister - though dejected chose not to voice their frustration with the handling of the case
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"Indian government has been always helpful to us. Whenever we asked them to look into it, they have," said Eiko. "We don't know where he is but he is here, still alive, in India and we just want him back," she said haltingly.

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(Published 06 December 2010, 13:43 IST)

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