Sri Vijaya Puram, November 2: A 24-year-old worker from West Bengal has been missing since October 30 after reportedly leaving his colleagues during entry formalities at the Coast Guard facility near Panipat Gate in Haddo, Sri Vijaya Puram. Chatham Police have registered a case and initiated an investigation after the worker failed to return to his camp and remained unreachable by phone.
The missing man, identified as Mukul Sorel, is a resident of Kuchui Ghata, Kusumdhihi, in Birbhum district of West Bengal. He arrived in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on October 29 with a group of workers from Kolkata to take up labour work for the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) under the Border Roads Task Force (BRTF).
According to the statement provided by one of his colleagues to the police, the group reached the Coast Guard facility at Panipat Gate at around 9.30 am on October 30 to complete the required entry formalities. Heavy rain reportedly began while they were waiting at the gate. Sorel is said to have told his colleagues that he was going to relieve himself before leaving the group.
However, he did not return, and his colleagues were unable to locate him.
The group reportedly searched for Sorel at several places, but their efforts failed to establish his whereabouts. He remained absent from work for the rest of the day, raising concerns among those who had accompanied him to the islands.
His colleagues initially believed that he might have gone out to meet friends and would return later. However, their attempts to contact him proved unsuccessful, and he did not return to the workers’ camp.
The matter was reported to Chatham Police on November 1, after his continued absence and failure to respond to phone calls prompted a colleague to lodge a missing complaint.
The police complaint also refers to an earlier incident in 2025 when Sorel allegedly left his company without informing the management. However, his present whereabouts remain unknown, and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance are yet to be established.
Chatham Police have registered an FIR under Section 140(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Police are investigating the circumstances of Sorel’s disappearance after he left his colleagues at Panipat Gate. No confirmed information about his whereabouts was available in the complaint at the time of registration.
