By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has assured all possible help to find the whereabouts of 22-year-old Karandeep Singh Rana who mysteriously disappeared from a Merchant Navy ship off Sri Lanka a month ago.
Dhami also expressed deep concern over the news of the disappearance of Rana, a merchant navy deck cadet and a resident of Dehradun. The Chief Minister spoke to Rana’s father Narendra Singh Rana over the phone on Wednesday and assured him of all possible assistance and support.
The Chief Minister said the State Government is in constant contact with the central government and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) regarding this matter. He told Rana’s father that safety and speedy return of the cadet are the state government’s top priority.
Earlier, Rana’s father said he had requested both the state and central governments for the safety and security of his lost son. The senior Rana, who lives in Dehradun, was running pillar to post to get any news about his son.
Karandeep left Dehradun for Singapore on August 18, from where he boarded a ship bound for Iraq the next day to transport crude oil for China. After the return journey, Karandeep was reportedly went missing from the ship off Sri Lanka on September 20, enroute China.
“On September 20, at around 9:30 pm, the Mumbai office of the Executive Ship Management (ESM) company informed us that Karandeep had gone missing from the ship and could not be found despite extensive searches. We were shocked to hear this, as we had spoken to him in the afternoon on that day and he was perfectly fine,” said Rana’s father.
He said that after repeated inquiries, the company officials only said that Karandeep had gone to the deck alone and was not seen thereafter.
After receiving information about Karandeep’s disappearance, the family has been pleading with everyone to find their son. Rana said that they have approached everyone, including the Chief Minister’s Portal, state government officials, and the MEA.