Garfa boy detained in Malaysia

KOLKATA: A 20-year-old youth, Utpal Das, who reportedly went missing from a

merchant navy ship

in Malayasia a month ago, was found at a detention camp there on Monday, following intervention by the ministry of external affairs. Apparently unaware of the Malaysian law on employment, Das started working for another firm there, violating the rules.

The fate of Das, charged of flouting immigration law of Malaysia, now depends on a court hearing there on May 5. A resident of Midnapore, Das shifted to Kolkata after finishing school and lived at his sister-in-law's house at Garfa.On completing a certificate course for merchant navy , Das sa iled off for Malayasia on December15, 2016, after he got the papers from a seafarer's licensing and documentation authority in the Federated States of

Micronesia

. “It was not about a job only; he wanted to explore the world,“ said Ramesh Manna, Das's brother-in-law. Das would call up his sister regularly till a month ago. “First, we thought he was busy . But a friend on the ship told us he could not be traced,“ said Manna.

A family of humble background, Manna did not know how to find Das, till he got help from NGO India's Smile. He mailed to the ministry of external affairs and the Indian High Commission in Malayasia. “A mail from the Indian Workers' Resource Centre at the Indian High Commission in Malayasia said Utpal was seen at the Semuja detention camp in Sarawak,“ Manna said. Illegal migrants are detained there.

An Indian High Commission official said they were in touch with the Malaysian authorities. “He should have known the laws before he taking up the new job. But he seemed unaware,“ said

Rajeev Sarkar

of India's Smile.