TOI Finds ‘The Seeker' Who Made The World Rethink Covid's Origins

Among the three Indians—Pune-based scientist couple Monali Rahalkar and Rahul Bahulikar being the other two—who made the world rethink on the origins of the coronavirus is an enigmatic person in his 20s who lives somewhere in east India. He is also an architect, a filmmaker and a former science teacher — and he revels in anonymity.

- YudhajitShankar Das 

The Seeker, as he is known to the world, answered TOI’s questions through an encrypted email and said he prefers to remain anonymous as he is not “looking for fame or glory” and because he doesn’t want to “trade-off ” his “safety and privacy.”

“My insatiable curiosity drew me into this,” The Seeker says when asked why he started researching the origins of the coronavirus. “It’s been over a year now, and I’ve devoted most of my waking hours to it,” he adds.

Part of DRASTIC, a team of strangers from different backgrounds who coalesced on the internet to research on the killer virus’ origin, The Seeker dived into hidden corners and brought out evidence that helped raise questions about Wuhan Institute of Virology’s link to the pandemic.