Myanmarese man, PhD student of Visva-Bharati, goes missing; kidnap suspected

A 30-year-old PhD student of Visva-Bharati, who is a Myanmarese national, has gone missing, while it is suspected that the researcher has been abducted, police said on Friday.

The central university has informed the police about the incident and an investigation has started.

The student, identified as Pannacara, used to stay outside the campus at a rented house in Indira Palli locality of Bolpur.

Another person, who stayed with him, informed the university that a group of unidentified men abducted him in a car from the house on Thursday afternoon.

“The registrar of the university has lodged a complaint immediately with the police on the basis of the information provided by his roommate. We are worried about the incident,” said Mahua Banerjee, the public relations officer of Visva-Bharati.

The missing student, who hailed from Yangon region of the neighbouring country, has been doing his PhD at the Department of Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit since 2016.

Superintendent of Police Raj Narayan Mukherjee said, “A case has been registered. Our officers have started an investigation.”