New Delhi

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Ministry of External Affairs to use its diplomatic channel and trace a seafarer missing after his cargo ship was struck by drones on July 25 in the Black Sea.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to seek instruction from the Indian Embassy in Ukraine and Embassy of India, Bucharest, Romania and enquire about the whereabouts of Deepak Kumar Gupta, who was onboard cargo ship, MV AGN Ragnar.

The matter is listed for hearing on Friday.

The top court was hearing a plea by Sandeep Kumar Gupta, elder brother of the missing seafarer, seeking directions to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to coordinate with Indian embassies in Ukraine and Romania to undertake search and rescue operations.

The plea was filed by Gupta after his family’s persistent requests to the Union of India and Indian embassies in the two countries went unheard.

The plea contended that the family wrote to the MEA and the Indian embassies in the two countries between July 26 and July 30 but the representations did not evoke any response or any positive assurance.

The 22-year-old seafarer went missing after a merchant vessel carrying Indian crew members came under attack near Ukraine's Odesa port.

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According to family members, Deepak Gupta, a resident of Bharataul village in Bareilly district, was working as a crew member aboard the merchant vessel MV AGN Ragnar.

Deepak Gupta's family originally hails from Siwan district in Bihar but has been residing in Bharataul village in Bareilly for several years.