Chen Qiushi, a human rights advocate with over 2 lac Twitter followers and millions of Youtube views, who had been blogging about coronavirus from the epicentre Wuhan, has been missing since Thursday, Feb 4.
Armed with just a selfie stick, Chen had blogged about the condition of hospitals in Wuhan, reported from morgues, and captured the plight of those whose family members had died from the Coronavirus outbreak.
On social media and in his vlogs, Chen had been highly critical of the Chinese authorities in their handling of the outbreak.
Chen's disappearance comes days after anger erupted over the death of another whistleblower, 34 -year-old doctor Li Wenliang, who was the first to warn against the 'SARS like epidemic' and had been punished for it.
According to The Guardian, Chen had last visited a Wuhan hospital and since then, his family and friends have been unable to contact him.
Chen's mother has also posted a message on Twitter.
One of Chen's friends has told CNN that Chen's mother was told her son has been quarantined, but when they asked where, the authorities refused to say anything.
"I'm scared," Chen had said in a video recorded in his hotel room."I have the virus in front of me and behind me China's law enforcement."
After Li Wenliang, many are worried whether the Chinese authorities are also silencing Chen, another brave whisteblower who has been helping uncover the truth behind the coronavirus outbreak.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)