Police launch search operation for Navy personnel who went ‘missing’ from Colaba

The police are searching for a 26-year-old naval personnel who went missing after being discharged from a hospital in Mumbai.

Mumbai: The police have launched a search operation for a 26-year-old naval personnel after his family reported him missing on August 23. The naval employee, Daneshwar Sahu, was posted at the Fort-based INS Angre in south Mumbai, a shore establishment with logistics and administrative support.

Police launch search operation for Navy personnel who went ‘missing’ from Colaba

According to police officials, Sahu was unwell for some time and was admitted to the INS Asvini Hospital in Colaba for treatment on July 19. He was discharged on August 21 and strangely, he did not report to work. The naval authorities thereafter informed his family in Rampur, Chhattisgarh.

Sahu’s maternal uncle, Vishnu Prasad Sahu, 36, thereafter visited Mumbai and filed a complaint about Sahu’s missing status to the Colaba police station on August 28. Based on the complaint, the Colaba police registered a missing person’s case and started the search operation. When contacted, neither the naval authorities nor Sahu’s family could explain how and why Sahu may have gone missing.

Sources in the Navy said that the naval authorities have informed the Mumbai police about Sahu’s missing status and that the police are searching for him.

Daneshwar was posted for two years at INS Angre as a steward and was residing at the naval campus in Colaba. He was suffering from a blood infection. After getting discharged, Sahu told the doctor that he would take two days and will resume his duty. He then went back to the naval campus in Colaba and spoke to his mother and sister on the phone.

On August 24, Sahu’s father received a call from a navy official who informed them that Sahu needed to resume his duty on August 23 but he did not visit the office nor was he traceable on campus.

The naval official also inquired whether Sahu had spoken to his family about the possibility of visiting them in their native place.

The family, who were in a state of shock, decided to wait for two days for Sahu’s return and then his uncle came to Mumbai on August 26 to search for his nephew. His uncle visited the INS Angre, naval headquarters situated near Horniman Circle where he met the principal medical officer and inquired about his nephew’s whereabouts but the medical officer said that Daneshwar did not report to work after he was discharged from the hospital.

Daneshwar’s elder sister Ritika Sahu said, “My brother was not well and was in hospital for almost a month and later he went missing. The local police were informed, initially they were not registering the incident but when my uncle insisted on them, they registered a missing person complaint but they no clue about my brother till now. The family is worried”.

“The missing person complaint has been registered and we have been searching for him but no clue has been found about him,” said senior inspector Vijay Hatishkar of the Colaba police station.