Sheikh Mirazuddin Ahmed, 34, of Matia-Ghoraras in Basirhat in North 24-Parganas is regretting his decision to visit home to celebrate Id without his brother.
Mirazuddin, a jawan of the 107 infantry battalion of the Gorkha Rifles posted in Manipur, was granted leave early this week but his brother Sheikh Mahiuddin Ahmed’s request was not accepted.
Mahiuddin, a rifleman and Mirazuddin’s colleague in the same battalion who stayed back to work at the under-construction railway station yard at Tupul in Manipur’s Nonay district, is among those missing since the landslide early on Thursday.
Since Thursday night, Mirazuddin has been making frantic calls to Mahiuddin’s mobile phone but there had been no reply till Friday evening.
Defence sources said Mahiuddin, a resident of Matia-Ghorarash village, is one of the 25 jawans of the 107 infantry battalion of the Gorkha Rifles’ Tupul contingency operating base who are still missing.
“I am cursing myself for my decision to come home without him.… I could have stayed back and tried my best to find my brother,” said an inconsolable Mirazuddin. He said Mahiuddin, 32, joined the battalion nine years ago.
Ahmed’s wife Rimana Yasmin her son at their home in Basirhat on Friday. Pashupati Das
Army sources said the landslide struck when most of the victims were asleep. While most of the jawans from the battalion got buried under the debris and mud, a few were lucky to be swept down by the mud flowing from the hillock towards the Agah river. This saved them from getting trapped under the rubble.
Speaking to reporters at his home on Friday, Mirajuddin said: “It is a challenging area to work in. It will be a challenge for the rescue teams to remove the gigantic boulders and bring out those trapped. Still, I am hopeful that my brother is alive and will respond to my calls soon.”
The Tupul COB authorities have released a list of 39 personnel that includes Mahiuddin as one of those missing.
Residents of Matia-Ghoraras village in North 24-Parganas are anxiously waiting for news on Mahiuddin.
“I have heard that a synergised joint rescue operation is being carried out by the army using wall radars, earth removers and rescue dogs. But I am regretting my absence from the accident site,” Mirazuddin said.
The brothers visited home for the last time together in August 2021. They had planned to come home to celebrate Id this time.
After being refused leave, family sources said, Mahiuddin called up his wife Rimana on Wednesday night and told her that he would visit home by the end of the year.
Clutching onto her two-year-old son, Rimana said: “He was a bit upset on being denied leave. He was anxious to meet his child. He left for his base within a few months of the birth of our son. I don’t know whether he will be able to see him again.”
A senior official of the North 24-Parganas district administration said the Bengal government was in touch with the Manipur government and the Indian Army. “All possible support will be provided to the family as the situation demands,” the official said.
