A 63-year-old man from Pune’s Shirur had gone missing back in December 2021 and his family had not seen or heard of him since then. However, just few days ago, the family’s hope of meeting him was again rekindled after they saw an advertisement of the missing man, identified as Dattatreya Vishnu Tambe, on the Instagram account of the ruling Shiv Sena.
Maharashtra’s ‘Mahayuti’ government that comprises of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, BJP and the NCP (Ajit Pawar) launched the “Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana” last week. The scheme provides a subsidy of up to Rs 30,000 for senior citizens going to pilgrimage to prominent religious destinations within the state and outside.
Ahead of the Assembly elections that is to be held later this year, the state government and CM Shinde’s party is publicising the scheme.
One such advertisement took Tambe’s son, Bharat, by surprise on Thursday. Speaking to Indian Express, he said that a friend had sent him a screenshot of a WhatsApp status that someone on his contacts list had posted.
Bharat, who runs an eatery in Shikrapur, about 25 kilometres from his village said, “I saw the screenshot and couldn’t believe it. It was my father in the ad of the Teerth Darshan Yojana.”
After he had gone missing, and his family was scared of well-being, Bharat had requested CM Shinde “to oblige me by finding my father and reuniting him with us.” “Now we know for sure that he is alive and is well. Our hopes of a reunion are high now,” he added.
Following the incident, the police has begun searching for Tambe. His son also lodged a missing complaint on Saturday night after the cops approached him, said Inspector Deepratan Gaikwad of Shikrapur police station. The family had also lodged a missing report about Tambe in the past.
