CHARSADDA: A local family is looking to the government for the early recovery of its missing boy reportedly traced in India.

Ismail Ali alias Tufail went missing on June 10, 2014, when his family shifted from Mian Dheri area to Sardaryab in Charsadda district after the 2010 floods.

There are reports that the seven-year-old has been traced to Indian state of Rajasthan and is in the custody of Sri Ganganagar police.

Of late, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan wrote a letter to Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj calling for expediting legal formalities for the immediate repatriation of the child.

“Tufail’s parents are desperately waiting to be reunited with their son,” he said.

Also, CM Pervez Khattak Chief Minister Pervez Khattak formally requested the Foreign Office to contact the relevant Indian authorities to help the child reunite with family.

The child’s father, Zafar Ali, told Dawn he had lodged FIR with the Prang police station after his son’s mysterious disappearance.

He said the child’s picture was seen by his Saudi-based uncle on social media two months ago after being shared by an Indian social activist.

“Asfandyar Wali quoted an Indian journalist as telling him that the missing boy has been in the custody of the Ganganagar police in Rajasthan for 45 days. Afterwards, I contacted a local NGO, Badloon, for help. The NGO’s representatives met the relevant Foreign Office officials, who insist they’re in contact with their Indian counterparts on the matter,” he said.

The man said he looked to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, to help him get the missing child back.

He said it had been more than one and a half months since he learned about his child’s whereabouts but had been unable to see him back.

The man also sought the permission to visit India to see son.

“We all family members, especially Tufail’s mother and sisters, are impatiently awaiting his homecoming,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2016