KATHMANDU: Tarani Prasad Pant, a bank employee at Nepal Bank Limited in Chame, Manang, has been missing for 54 days, leaving his family and colleagues in distress.
Pant was last in contact on October 26 after visiting the view tower in Manang.
Pant had gone to the view tower with his colleague, Arjun Khadka, who turned back halfway after he felt he could not move forward. Pant continued alone and spoke to Khadka at 4:45 pm that day.
However, when Pant did not return by nightfall, Khadka and other bank employees attempted to reach him, but his phone remained unanswered until it was eventually switched off at 10:45 pm.
His brother, Vishnudatta Pant, explained that the news of Tarani’s disappearance was reported to the family by Archana Budhathoki, a bank colleague, around 11:00 pm.
Vishnudatta and three other family members quickly traveled to Chame to help search for Tarani, assisted by local authorities, including Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, and the Nepal Army, as well as bank employees and local businessmen. Despite their efforts, they could not locate him.
The search continued for 12 days with no success, and the last location of Pant’s mobile phone was traced to Chame. Despite a further search operation involving drone cameras and a helicopter, Tarani remains missing.
The Pant family remains hopeful yet anxious, with Vishnudatta stating, “We are confident that our brother will return. It’s been 54 days, and though we haven’t found him yet, we continue to hope.”
The family’s distress is compounded by the uncertainty, but they have not given up hope and plan to continue their efforts to find him.
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