NEAR the Line of Control at village Limber in Uri, Bashir Ahmad Pir along with his wife and three children was living a peaceful and good life. But, his mysterious disappearance 12 years ago, left lives of his wife and children shattered.

Pir was 40 when a group of unidentified people abducted him from Limber village. Relatives and neighbours tried their best to trace him, but all their efforts failed. And 12 years after his disappearance, poor family waits for news about their bread-earner. "I want to know why my brother was abducted and then disappeared," says his brother Mohammad Shafi, who now helps his family. He is not alone, but villagers too chip in to help this poor family.

Even year's after Pir's disappearance, his wife and children are hopeful that he will return some day. "They have not left the hope of his return. His children and wife wait for him with a hope that he is going to bail them out from poverty."

His said some people had come to their house in mid September 1995. "Nobody in the family knew them. They were in a group and abducted my brother. That time they had promised that my brother will be back in the village within an hour. But there after we got no news about him," he said.

Initially, the relatives looked for Pir in the nearby forests and adjacent villages for two three days. Later, they registered a missing report in a police station.

... contd.