THE father of Blackburn hostage Paul Wells says he has been pleased by the response so far to his new mission to find his missing son.

Mr Wells is in India along with Paul's girlfriend, Catherine Moseley, Julie Mangan, the wife of fellow hostage Keith Mangan, and James Bowman, director of the Hostages In Kashmir Campaign.

Over the last few days they have held press conferences and organised meetings with the German, Norwegian, and American ambassadors, as well as the Indian Home Secretary, Mr Padmanabhaiah.

Speaking from Delhi, Mr Wells told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph: "The people we have spoken to have been quite helpful. We have done appeals through the Indian press and on the BBC's Urdu service.

"However, there is very little coverage of the hostages here and this is what a great part of our time is taken up with. We are trying to get them to report on the situation and keep it in the public eye."

The party is staying in India for several days before moving on to Pakistan and then back to the territory in Kashmir where Paul disappeared in July 1995.

Once again, they will try to find out about the hostages in the villages and through appeals in mosques.

"We want to see if there is any substance behind the reported sightings," Mr Wells added.

"The last was on November 24 last year but all of the sightings since December 1995 have been unconfirmed."

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