Gadag KRIDL engineer still missing; five police teams on trail

The search for Parvez Dharwad, Assistant Executive Engineer at the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL) in Gadag, has not produced any breakthrough, with the engineer remaining untraced days after he went missing.

Gadag Superintendent of Police Mithun H.N. said on Monday that five teams have been constituted to trace him, and that two of them are currently searching in Andhra Pradesh. He said the investigation has been hampered because Mr. Parvez is neither using a mobile phone nor carrying out any online financial transactions, leaving the police without digital leads to follow.

The officer also noted that a missing-person case concerning Mr. Parvez had been registered at the Betageri Extension Police Station in 2024.

In a letter he is said to have left behind, Mr. Parvez referred to mounting work pressure caused by a shortage of government funds and mentioned the extreme step of ending his life.

Political attention to the case intensified on Monday, with JD(S) leaders visiting his residence in Gadag and speaking to his father, Jafarsab. Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who spoke to Mr. Jafarsab over the phone, assured the family of the support required and is reported to have said the matter was being looked into and that the government's action would be watched.

Separately, members of the District Minorities' Federation staged a protest demanding that the missing engineer be traced. They later submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner C.N. Sridhar.