A THIRD-SEMESTER student of Era Medical College and a State Bank of India official went missing under mysterious circumstances from Thakurganj and Krishnanagar areas, respectively.
In Thakurganj, a student stole an ATM card from his classmate to withdraw Rs 45,000 before he was reported missing.
Police had put the mobile phone of the student on surveillance, which revealed that he was in regular contact with his girlfriend and family members in Varanasi.
Supervising the matter, circle officer (CO) Rajesh Sahni said the student, Subhash Kumar Rai, left the college hostel, along with his girlfriend, on August 16 to visit Koneshwar. He sent her back to the college saying he would catch up with her after an hour, but had not returned since.
He was not seen in the college for two days, so his classmate Anshu Singhal contacted his brother inquiring about Rai. But, his brother feigned ignorance. Sensing trouble, Rai’s family arrived here and launched a search for the youth.
Later, Anshu reported his ATM card missing and suspected Rai’s role.
The student’s brother later checked his account to find Rs 25,000 deposited there. Rai used to operate his brother’s account. Anshu’s suspicion was confirmed by the amount lying in the account.
{{/usCountry}}The student’s brother later checked his account to find Rs 25,000 deposited there. Rai used to operate his brother’s account. Anshu’s suspicion was confirmed by the amount lying in the account.
{{/usCountry}}Rai’s brother later lodged an FIR about the student missing at the Thakurganj police station on August 22.
CO Sahni said Rai had talked to his girlfriend about half-an-hour on August 17.
He was in regular contact with the girl and his brother since. Rai’s father is a junior engineer with PWD in Ballia.
The CO said they were keeping close watch on Rai’s movement, hoping he would return soon. But, despite collecting call details of the student, cops made no effort to trace his location and bring him back.
Meanwhile, State Bank of India, Mohanlalganj branch official Raghunath Malhotra was reported missing since August 13. Malhotra, resident of Krishnanagar, left home for Bareilly that day and had called up his wife Sandhya the next day saying he was leaving for Almora. He, however, had not returned home since.
Sandhya lodged an FIR about his missing on August 23. The police have yet to collect details to initiate a probe into the matter. None of the policeman ever visited Sandhya regarding the case.