Man kidnapped from North Avenue yet to be traced

A 21-year-old man has allegedly been abducted from the power corridors of New Delhi's North Avenue with the police running helter-skelter, registering a case of kidnapping and, according to sources, fearing the worst.

A 21-year-old man has allegedly been abducted from the power corridors of New Delhi's North Avenue with the police running helter-skelter, registering a case of kidnapping and, according to sources, fearing the worst.

Mohammad Ashraf, who used to work as a waiter at a small restaurant near Jantar Mantar and stay at a servants' quarter on Parliament Street, according to police, has been missing for over ten days - ever since he received a mysterious call on the night of March 25.

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"Several teams have been constituted to search for and find him. His location was traced to two places in southeast Delhi and even one in western UP since he went missing; but we haven't been able to locate him since," admitted a police officer.

Ashraf's abduction, possibly by persons known to him, police said, has added to more than a dozen cases of abduction, more or less, which have already been registered so far this year, according to sources.

While initial investigation, police claim, has revealed his possible involvement in some small-time cases of cheating, investigators admit fearing the worst.

"But this isn't the first time he has gone missing without explanation: he has been to Mumbai twice without informing his family. We hope it isn't different this time," the officer said.

On April four, just a week after he was rescued from a life of depravity and habitual solvent abuse, a 13-year-old vagabond had mysteriously disappeared from a government hospital campus in central Delhi.

As many as 25 cases of abduction had been registered in 2011: with the police claiming to have rescued victims in almost all cases but one.

This year, however, may be tellingly different.