'We know he died, waiting 7 years for death certificate will be excruciating’

The search for Subhan Ali, a 27-year-old Border Roads Organisation officer posted in Kargil, just got longer. The Indian Engineering Services (IES) officer is believed to have fallen into the Dras river in June last year, a month before he was going to get married. While his driver’s body was found, his never was. Now, a fortnight after defence minister Rajnath Singh said the DNA tests to confirm his identity are “in queue,” his family says they are caught in a limbo — they have been “informally” told that the DNA samples have not matched but to get a death certificate, they’d have to wait over six years. And his salary dues remain stuck.

“He was going to get married in July. We were busy preparing. In fact, the wedding date had to be moved twice. He and I ran an IAS coaching centre for several years. He got into IIT (Delhi) and left that. He got a job with the DDA in Delhi in 2018 after that and, the following year, cleared the IES exam,” his brother Sahban told TOI.