Kolkata: A journalist who was missing for nearly a decade, Subhajit Chandra, finally returned to his family in Kolkata on Dec 13, after spending years at a concentration camp in Thailand since 2019. The reunion was possible due to the joint efforts of Thakurpukur police and the ministry of external affairs. In 2015, Chandra, who was then employed in New Delhi, went to Malaysia for treatment. His travels subsequently took him to Cambodia and Thailand, where he lost contact with his family, leaving them in a state of distress and uncertainty. The case came to light when Bhaskar Mallick, Chandra’s brother-in-law, filed a petition on Nov 11, 2025 to record a general diary for his missing relative at Thakurpukur PS. Mallick said that Chandra last communicated with his family in 2016, after which he was completely unreachable. Despite efforts by Chandra’s father to report his disappearance and publish notices in newspapers, no leads were found, and the family was left without any official documentation of his missing status.The situation took a positive turn when authorities at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata and the Consulate of Thailand were contacted. In Nov, the Consulate of Thailand was provided with Chandra’s photographs, passport and personal identity card, which facilitated the process of locating him.Upon his return, Chandra recounted that he went to Malaysia on Nov 7, 2015. Due to financial duress, he moved to Cambodia in 2016 and was working at a bakery. But since he did not have any documents to legitimise his stay there, in 2019, the Cambodian police arrested him and brought him to the Thailand border. There, he was arrested for illegally entering Thailand and he was put in a detention camp. Chandra was forced to stay in that camp from 2019 till this Nov. He gave up hope of ever returning home, thinking he would have to die there, said DC (Behala-SWD) Rahul De. However, Chandra recollected how on Nov 11, someone met him at the detention camp in Thailand, and on Nov 27, he was issued an Emergency Certificate by the assistant consular officer, Embassy of India in Bangkok. Finally, on Dec 9, he was sent to Delhi by Indigo flight from Bangkok Airport and returned home on Dec 13 by train from Delhi.The years have taken a toll on his physical condition and he lost a lot of weight, said DC De. During his absence, his father passed away, and his mother is seriously ill and bedridden.
Join The Discussion