A resident of Kannammapalayam in Sulur has petitioned District Collector T.N Hariharan pleading him to initiate steps through the External Affairs Ministry to trace his 25-year-old son who has gone missing in Canada while working for Anglo Eastern Company, a mercantile navy firm.

Rohtas Singh Chauthala, accompanied by his daughter Meenakshi, who met media persons after submitting the petition said his son Karthick Chowdhry, spoke to them over phone in December and “since then his whereabouts are not known, even to his colleagues”.

The shipping company, with whom Karthick has been working with, had also failed to inform anything about his status or condition.

“We have already sent an email complaint to the External Affairs Ministry to speed up action and rescue my missing son. We don’t buy the argument that he is dead: he is very much alive and has gone missing in Canada,” Rohtas Singh said.