Kargil: Subhan Ali was a young officer working with the Border Road Organisation (BRO) when he met with a fateful accident in Drass sub-division of Kargil, near Batra Camp, on June 22, 2020. Ali was on duty and travelling by car when he fell into the rapidly flowing Drass river on the Zojia-Kargil-Leh highway.The body of the driver he was with was found a few weeks later, but Subhan’s body has not yet been found. There have been repeated attempts to recover the body by the district administration of Kargil and local social and religious organisations.A few days after the incident, Pakistani officials from across the border informed Indian officials that a dead body had been found near Shingo river, which is close to the Line of Control. Suspecting that this may be Subhan’s body, the district administration of Kargil requested a DNA sample. They also sampled the DNA Subhan’s family, to be able to tell whether there was a match.However, a harrowing eight months later, the family is still awaiting closure. The official reports have not yet come. The unsuccessful attempts and delays in the DNA results have tested the family’s patience, with their pain and suffering only growing.Subhan’s brother Shaban Ali told The Wire, “The family is in deep distress due to the unavailability of any information regarding the body.” Verbally, they’ve been told by the administration that the DNA is not matching.According to Shaban, elders of the family have gone through a lot of trauma, and this has affected adversely affected their health. “Our uncle suffered a lot of mental trauma due to which he recently suffered an attack of paralysis in January. Our father has also survived a heart attack within a month of the accident, and then another one earlier this year.”Subhan’s family claims that there has been no financial assistance provided by the government. Shaban added, “Our brother died while on duty serving the nation, therefore his family should be given financial support. But there is no end to the difficulties our family is facing; even the inquiry regarding the dead body is unresolved.”Shaban said that the family has been promised that a departmental inquiry into the matter will be concluded soon and the report provided to the family.Meanwhile, however, the family continues to suffer due to financial problems, made particularly acute by the health issues family members have suffered since Subhan’s passing. Shaban also said that during this time he has had to visit Kargil to oversee the search operation, and spent more than Rs three lakh on the travel himself.The family now demands that the government provide a final result on the DNA sample on way or the other, to help bring closure. This could also help the family access financial assistance.The vehicle being recovered. Photo: Special arrangement“We had sent many letters to the government at state, central and defence levels. However, there is no response about the recovery of Subhan’s body,” Shaban said. He suggests that the administration carry out another search operation in the Drass river, and that financial assistance be provided to the family immediately.Sajjad Hussain, a social activist from Kargil, has been campaigning around the demand to find Subhan’s body since the accident. “Civil society, volunteer of religious organisations and the district administration made several efforts to find Subhan’s body, but we could not trace it. The family has gone through a lot of trauma and after months, they have not been delivered the reports of the DNA sample.”Sajjad added that if the samples are not matching, a mega search operation should be done before the water level rises in the Drass river.Sub-divisional magistrate, Drass Asgar Ali said that the administration made all efforts to find the body between June and December, “But we could not get success.”Three days after the accident, a portion of the vehicle was visible in the water. Helicopters brought divers from Srinagar, who worked along with the state and national disaster relief teams for three days to get the car out.Imams of masjids, village sapranches and civil society held a meeting during this time, and after 15 days a body was recovered near Jazgund by the rescue teams. This body was found to be the driver’s.Leila Bee is a freelance female journalist from Kargil.