New Delhi:
Prabhakar Singh (29) could have never imagined that his wife's wish to attend a job interview in another city would make her disappear without a trace.
Prabhakar had married Pushpa Singh in June last year, and the couple was living happily in Mumbai. "In December last, my wife received a call from her friend, Mohammad Farooq Khan, in Chandigarh who told her that there were some vacancies in a private bank there and he can arrange an interview for her. So, I booked a ticket for her on December 31, and she left for Chandigarh on January 1," said Prabhakar.
After arriving in Chandigarh, Pushpa was constantly in touch with her husband over the phone. "She told me that the scheduled interview was cancelled and the same would be held on January 2. But on January 2 when she went to the interview venue with Farooq, she found that no interviews were being held and Farooq was just bluffing her.
She then told me to book a ticket for her immediately as she wanted to come back to Mumbai. So I booked her a ticket for January 2 and the flight was scheduled to leave for Mumbai at 6.30 pm. As she left for airport, she was constantly talking to me on the phone. But as she reached the airport she suddenly said that she was in trouble and shouted for help. After that her mobile phone went off, and there has been no communication from her till now," Prabhakar added.
Prabhakar then went to the Mumbai police and told them about the incident. The Mumbai cops prepared a letter in Marathi, and Prabhakar went to Chandigarh with the letter. But to his dismay, he found that the cops there couldn't read Marathi.
Disappointed, he returned to Mumbai. "The Mumbai police then again send the complaint in English via mail and fax. The Chandigarh cops however denied receiving any such fax or mail. Then I again contacted the Mumbai cops and couriered the documents to a friend in Chandigarh who then submitted them to the police. Finally, an FIR was lodged and a case of kidnapping registered in Chandigarh on February 20, one month and 20 days after the incident," Prabhakar added.
Following the FIR, police arrested Farooq. During interrogation, he revealed that he had accompanied Pushpa to the airport and they had a heated argument during which he snatched her cell phone and broke it.
"Farooq told the cops that from the airport he took Pushpa to his friend's house in Chandigarh. He then said that she had to go to Delhi as the interview was supposed to be held there and but he didn't know where exactly she had gone. There is no clue about my wife. I am planning to move to the court and National Human Rights Commission," said Prabhakar.
Based on Farooq's statement, the Chandigarh police then came to Delhi on February 25 to investigate the matter but so far they have not been able to make any headway in the investigation. "We have got some crucial leads through call details of the accused and the victim. So far the investigation has not been able to point out at to what has happened with Pushpa," said a police officer.
18-yr-old kidnappedLast month, the Delhi Police arrested two persons for allegedly kidnapping an 18-year-old married girl from Lok Nayak Hospital where she had reportedly come for treatment. The accused were part of a gang of six - including two women - that targeted railway stations, hospitals and ISBTs. They would identify a target, win her trust, abduct her on the pretext of helping her and sell her off. The victim was rescued from Karnal in Haryana where she had been sold off, said police. The girl had come to Delhi with her husband. At the railway station, the couple asked around for the way to the LNJP Hospital. Police said that the accused then offered to take them to the hospital.