With his fate shrouded in mystery after he was jailed in Pakistan, a Gujarat fisherman's family has approached the Centre and top Congress leaders to help them travel to the neighbouring country to find out if he is "dead or alive".
There are two versions about Kishor Makwana, a resident of Kob village in Junagadh district, who was captured by Pakistani maritime authorities on January 27, 2012 for allegedly "illegally" entering into their territorial waters.
One version, put out by official channels of Pakistan, India and Gujarat governments, says the 21-year-old died in Ladli jail in Karachi on February 4.
While they were waiting for the body to arrive, the youth's family members said they received a letter, dated February 14, from another inmate of the same jail saying Makwana was fine.
The letter, delivered on February 25, was written by Naranbhai Lakshmanbhai Chauhan, also a fisherman who hails from Chikhli village which is close to Makwana's village.
"We were waiting for Kishor's body to arrive from Pakistan, when we received the letter from Chauhan, informing us that Kishor was fine," his brother Harish Makwana told PTI.
Chauhan wrote that Kishor had escaped from the jail, but was recaptured after ten months. "Both of us are in Pakistan's Ladi jail," Harish said, quoting from the letter.
"So my parents and I want to visit the jail and talk to authorities to find out if Kishor is dead or alive.
"In this regard, we have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul, requesting them to facilitate our visit to Pakistan," Harish said.
Veljibhai Masani, Senior Vice-President of Gujarat Fishermen Association (GFA), said the Pakistani Government in its official communication has not given the cause of Kishor's death.
