Laxman returns home after disappearing for 18 years


Nuwakot, May 1: A person has returned home after going missing for the past 18 years and after hopes had deserted his family members.

Laxman Bhatta of Charghare suddenly went out of contact with his family in 1999. Laxman, a native of Charghare – 4, is now married and even has a daughter.

He has disclosed to his family members the secret they had been yearning to hear. For all these years, Laxman had been working at a coal mine at Meghalaya in India, and could not send a letter nor did he have a mobile phone to make a call.

Bhatta, 38, went missing during the nascent stages of the decade – long armed conflict fueling gloomy speculations. His family even had lost all hopes of finding him alive.

He has now returned with an Indian wife and a nine – year – old daughter, his twin brother, Ram Lal Bhatta said.

"There was no environment to stay at our place during the intensity of the armed conflict in the country, "elder brother Ram Lal said, adding "We had lost all hopes of finding the brother who went missing at a time when the security personnel had started to cause disturbance in our peace, but we are now happy that he has returned.

Ram Lal, who was with the then Maoist's People's Liberation Army (PLA), had filed applications at the Local Peace Committee and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to search for his missing brother.


Upon returning to his village, Laxman was notified of his father Ved Prasad Bhatta's death in 2011. Stating that he fled to Meghalaya in India after security personnel started disturbing them, Laxman added that he now plans to stay and get involved in agriculture and farming in the village. RSS