A Nepali youth who had gone to Portugal for foreign employment has gone missing. Jitendra Pande, 34, originally from Bhanunagar Municipality-9, Pipalpani, Tanahun, and living in Portugal for the past two years, has been out of contact since last Monday.
According to his friend Vidur Tamang, Pande went missing from the Sintra area near the capital Lisbon and has remained out of contact ever since. Tamang informed that Pande had come to his house last Sunday night and left after receiving a phone call from another friend. He has not been seen or heard from since.
Pande, who worked at a packaging company in Sintra, did not show up for work on Monday. His friends searched for him after he stopped answering phone calls. “We contacted his family in Nepal after he went missing. They told us he had called them that morning saying he would not be in contact for a few days. But now he is out of reach of everyone,” Tamang said. The employer reported the incident to the local police on Tuesday.
Pande’s residence card, bank card, passport, and all personal belongings were found intact in his room, raising further concern about his disappearance. He has elderly parents and sisters in Nepal.
Nepal’s Ambassador to Portugal Prakash Mani Paudel said that the embassy immediately informed local authorities as soon as they received the report of his disappearance. He assured that the embassy is making every possible effort to trace Pande. Pande had reached Portugal via Croatia two years ago.
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