An Indian academic who has lived in Britain for more than 60 years has become the subject of a pointed debate in the UK parliament after disappearing in Nepal’s Aug 26 floods, with his constituency’s MP in that country alleging that authorities declined to assist in his case because he did not hold a British passport.Dr Anirban Bhattacharyya, 66, of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea in northeast England, remains on Nepal Police’s official missing-persons list, over two weeks after the disaster. A research associate at Newcastle University’s School of Computing, he held degrees from King’s College London and South Bank Polytechnic, and had completed his PhD at Newcastle University in 2013.Raising the case during Business Questions in the House of Commons, Ashington and Blyth MP Ian Lavery said, “Dr Bhattacharyya is a resident in my constituency. He has lived there for 60 years. He travelled to Kolkata only a couple of weeks ago, and it appears that he has been caught up in the horrendous flooding in Nepal.” The MP said repeated attempts to contact him had failed.Bhattacharyya was travelling with Kolkata-based Chalo Jaai Travel Club on a Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage handled in Nepal by Samrat Tours and Travels and remains among 32 members of the contingent who are still missing near Timure-Rasuwagadhi.
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