Nepali youth missing in Portugal for a week

KATHMANDU: A Nepali youth has gone missing in Portugal, where he had been working for the past two years.

The missing individual has been identified as 34-year-old Jitendra Pande, a resident of Pipalpani, Bhanu Municipality–9, Tanahun.

According to his friends, Pande has been out of contact since Monday last week from the Sintra area, near the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.

Bidur Tamang, Pande’s friend, informed that he had gone out on Sunday night after receiving a call from another Nepali friend.

“He told me to pack his lunch for work the next morning, but he never showed up,” Tamang said. After Pande failed to report to work, his colleagues began searching for him.

“When we couldn’t reach him, we contacted his family in Nepal. They said he had called earlier that morning, telling them he would be out of contact for a few days,” Tamang added. His employer reported the disappearance to the local police on Tuesday.

Pande’s residency card, bank cards, passport, and other personal belongings were found in his room. He is survived by his elderly parents and sisters in Nepal.

Speaking on the incident, Nepali Ambassador to Portugal, Prakash Mani Poudel, said that the embassy immediately informed the local authorities upon receiving the report. “We are coordinating closely with the police to locate him and are doing everything possible to assist in the search,” Poudel said.

Pande had reached in Portugal via Croatia two years ago and was employed at a packing company in Sintra.