Malaysian engineer declared missing for a month after India visit

Dehradun, Oct.22 (ANI): A Malaysian engineer, who trekked to hilly Tapovan in Uttarkasi district in India to meet his spiritual master, has been missing for the last month.

Vicknesvaren Murugesu, who works in New York, flew from the United States to Gangotri - a popular Hindu pilgrimage town along the Himalayan range on September 18 for a pilgrimage retreat, reports The Star.

The 33-year-old Vicknesvaren who is from Kuala Lumpur, trekked up to Tapovan, located about 25km from his rest house in Gangotri along with an Indian porter and was scheduled to return to his base two weeks later.

"He is spiritually inclined and came from the US to visit an Indian spiritual guru. He was expected to return to his rest house by the end of the month but there is no sign of him until now," Steven Nathan, Vicknesvaren's brother-in-law told the Bernama news agency in a telephone interview yesterday.

Many spiritual gurus and followers, who often meditate on the mountainous area, are beginning to return from Tapovan as the biting north Indian cold winter, which usually begins in October, has enveloped the Himalayan region. (ANI)