Dehradun: Merchant navy sailor goes missing; kin seek govt help

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], December 28 (ANI): The family of a merchant navy sailor has sought the Uttarakhand government’s help after he went ‘missing’ from onboard a ship en route to a port in Turkey.

The wife of Ankit Saklani, Pinky, told ANI that her husband working with a Mumbai-based firm — Elvis Ship Management — joined the company on December 1 and has been missing since December 18.

She said that Ankit, 10 days after joining, started sending her ‘weird messages’ and he wanted to return.

“My husband joined on December 1. He has more than 15 years of sailing experience. He contacted Elvis Ship company for the first time and joined them. Their ship was scheduled to reach a port in Turkey on December 18, but prior to that my husband started sending me ‘weird messages’. The 10 days from the date of joining were normal, but later he started messaging me that he was upset and wanted to return. On December 11 he messaged me saying that if something happens to him then the company would be responsible for it,” Pinky Saklani said.

She said, “Regarding this, I contacted the Mumbai-based firm. The two agents of the company — one Dinesh Jaiswal and a woman — who recruited him informed me that the ship is currently en route and therefore, signoff of my husband could be done only after the ship reaches Turkey port on December 18.”

“I was relaxed thinking that he would get signoff on December 18. But, on that day itself at 5 pm, I got a call from the company saying that my husband jumped off the vessel just before it was about to reach the port,” she told ANI.

Meanwhile, Ankit’s brother, suspecting foul play, has written a letter to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami demanding a probe into the matter.

Pinky has alleged that the firm is painting the incident as a suicide and that they have stopped responding to the family.

“The company is distancing itself and calling it a suicide. The incident happened at 11 am and they informed me at 5 am on the day when the ship was about to reach the port and my husband was about to get a signoff. Something is suspected. For two to three days the company said that a search operation was going on, but now they have also stopped replying to our messages,” the wife of the missing merchant navy sailor added.

Ankit Saklani is a Dehradun resident and has a four-year-old daughter.

Moreover, the family has also shot off a letter to the Turkey Embassy over the incident.