Reportage: Archana Masih. Design: Dominic Xavier

Is he alright?' Mrs Kalia asked, jumping out of bed. 'Yes,' her husband replied, and gave her the newspaper.

Her son's leave had been sanctioned for May 12, but when he couldn't make it, he had promised his family that he would try and be home for his birthday on June 29.

This couldn't be true, she thought. He couldn't be missing. The army would have informed them if it were so. How could six soldiers disappear without anyone knowing?

The Kalias rushed to the local army cantonment in Holta. There was no news there.

Putting their full belief behind the old saying, 'No news is good news,' they returned home. Vaibhav called The Indian Express office in Chandigarh.

The correspondent told him that a jawan admitted to the local military hospital had narrated the incident.

Desperate for information, they called army headquarters in New Delhi. "They told us Saurabh was missing since May 1," says Mrs Kalia.

"How could that be, we wondered, because we had a letter from him dated May 10."

When then Union minister and Palampur resident Shanta Kumar called Defence Minister George Fernandes, their fears were confirmed.

Saurabh had been missing since May 15.