More than five years after Darbhanga resident Satish Choudhary went missing from Patna, his relatives are hoping the government would do something to bring him back from a Bangladesh jail.

Home department principal secretary Amir Subhani said a letter was written to the joint secretary, ministry of external affairs for Bangladesh, in July 2012, requesting the neighbouring country to take necessary steps for the release of the Bihar resident, who was lodged in a jail in that country.

“We are still awaiting a response from the ministry of external affairs,” he said, adding that necessary steps were being taken in that direction. “What else can we do?” he said.

According to Satish’s family members no steps have been taken on the part of the state administration to get him released from Laxmipur District Jail of Bangladesh. “We are at a loss what to do because we don’t have enough money to go to Bangladesh to press for his release from prison,” said Satish’s younger brother Mukesh Choudhary.

Mukesh (25), a resident of Kadamkuan in Patna, is tired of visiting one officer after the other requesting them to do something to get his brother back. “I am not even aware of the offence for which he had been booked,” he said.

Mukesh, a daily-wage earner, who works with a decoration firm, said he met senior government officers, including Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaj and Amir Subhani begging for help but to no avail. “Even a visit to the chief minister’s janata durbar in July 2012 proved futile,” he said.

Mukesh said he had to shift his elder brother’s wife Amola Devi and two children — Ranjit (12) and Ugana (5) — to his village Monurtha under Hayaghat police station in Darbhanga in north Bihar because he was finding it difficult to make both ends meet in Patna.

Mukesh said the family was delighted after being informed that Satish was alive in March 2012. “We didn’t have any information about him (Satish) for about four years. We had lost all hope and were of the view that he was dead. Suddenly, we got a letter from Indian Red Cross Society (Bihar branch) on March 17, 2012, stating that Satish was lodged in a Bangladesh jail,” he said.

The Bihar branch of the Indian Red Cross Society was informed about Satish being lodged in the jail through a letter. The letter, written in Bengali, was sent to the Bihar branch by Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (tracing department).

Recalling the day when Satish went missing, Mukesh said he, along with his elder brother, was busy decorating a pandal on the premises of SK Memorial Hall in Patna on April 14, 2008. Suddenly, he noticed that Satish was not around. “I thought he (Satish) may have gone somewhere and would return soon. But he didn’t return till evening,” he said.

“Satish was depressed over something. He was under the supervision of a medical practitioner, who had prescribed him medicines to treat depression,” the brother said.