Pakistani authorities on Saturday handed over the body of Harash Nagotra, a man who allegedly ended his life by jumping into the Chenab river in Jammu, to their Indian counterparts, officials reported.
Nagotra’s family expressed deep gratitude to the Indian government, the army, and the Border Security Force (BSF) for their efforts in securing his repatriation.
Harash Nagotra, a resident of a border village in the Akhnoor sector, went missing on June 11. His motorcycle was found on the riverbank, prompting his family to lodge a missing person report the next day, police said. Preliminary investigations suggest that Nagotra committed suicide after incurring a loss of over Rs 80,000 in an online gaming application.
Confirmation of Nagotra’s death came through a WhatsApp message from a Pakistani official after his parents reactivated his SIM card on July 13. The message, from a Pakistani official claiming to be in the post-mortem department, informed the family that Nagotra’s body was recovered from a canal in Sialkot, Punjab province, on June 13. The official also sent Nagotra’s identity card and photos of the body, confirming his identity.
Nagotra’s father, Subash Sharma, appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the return of his son’s body to perform the last rites. “The body of my son was handed over to us this evening, and we will perform his last rites in accordance with our religious beliefs. We are thankful to the Prime Minister, external affairs ministry, army, and BSF for their efforts in ensuring the repatriation of the body of the deceased,” Sharma said.
The repatriation was coordinated by the army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps and the BSF, who worked with their Pakistani counterparts. Nagotra’s body was handed over to the Indian side at the Octroi post near Suchetgarh on Saturday evening after the completion of legal formalities on both sides. The body was then taken to a government medical hospital for a post-mortem, and the last rites are scheduled for Sunday, officials said.
