Son incarcerated in Pak jail, claim Kodagu couple

Yashwanth went missing from Mysuru 8 years ago

 The parents of a youth from Kodagu have appealed to the Centre to release who they believe is their son, from a jail in Pakistan.

Kushalappa and Meenakshi, a resident of Kaikeri in Gonikoppa, have been appealing to the State government and Centre for the last one year.  “Our son Yashwanth went missing from Mysuru eight years ago. All attempts to trace him went in vain. When Pakistan released a list of Indians lodged in the Pakistan jail last year, there was the name of a Ramesh in the list. Ramesh resembles Yashwanth. He is our son. The government should make an effort to get him released,” appealed Meenakshi.

Yashwanth had enrolled for a diploma course in Electronics and Communication at Kaveri polytechnic in 2004. However, due to shortage of attendance in the fourth semester, he could not appear for the exam. Later, he enrolled for a course at Janashikshana Samsthana in Mysuru in 2006. After completing the course in December 2006, he called his parents and demanded Rs 1,000 to go to Bengaluru in search of employment. The couple had given him money in Mysuru, after which there was no trace of him.

In fact, the Pakistan government had sent the lists along with photographs to the Indian government to confirm the nationality.

The Pakistan government had said that Ramesh was arrested in Lahore on December 6, 2013. However, he did not possess any arms.

“Based on the list furnished by the Pakistan government, the Mysuru division police had published the photograph of Ramesh in July 2014. The person in the photograph resembled Yashwanth. While studying diploma, he had an injury on his neck due to electric shock. There is a similar mark on the neck of Ramesh who is lodged in a Pakistan jail. Yashwanth stammers while speaking and will not speak when he is scared,” said Meenakshi.

In a letter to senior police officials and the Ministry of Home Affairs, she has urged the Centre to intervene and get him released. She also said that she should be taken to Pakistan to ascertain the truth.

“We have made several appeals to the Ministry of Home Affairs through MLA K G Bopaiah and Union Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda. However, we have not received any positive response. Yashwanth should be brought back to India and a probe should be conducted on how he reached Lahore,” she added.