This Article is From May 12, 2017

Air Force Man Admitted To Kolkata Hospital Goes Missing, CCTV Images Showed Him Walking Out

Brajesh Kumar Shukla, a junior commissioned officer of the Indian Air Force was admitted to Kolkata's Command Hospital for a cataract surgery. He went missing on May 4.

Air Force Man Admitted To Kolkata Hospital Goes Missing, CCTV Images Showed Him Walking Out

A 52-year-old Air Force man went missing from a Kolkata hospital. (Representational Image)

Kolkata: A junior commissioned officer of the Indian Air Force has gone missing from the Command Hospital in Kolkata since May 4. Brajesh Kumar Shukla, 52, had undergone a cataract surgery on May 2 and was expected to be discharged on the May 5. 

But two days later, on May 4, he went missing. CCTV footage from the hospital showed him walking out of the hospital ward wearing a shirt and a pair of trousers. Once he stepped out of the hospital building, however, there is no trace of him as the CCTV camera outside was apparently out of order. 

The defence spokesperson in Kolkata said Mr Shukla had left his cellphone behind. Nothing unusual has been found in his list of calls and messages.

Mr Shukla was posted as junior warrant officer at Jorhat, Assam.

The local police was informed, a missing person's case filed and his son arrived in Kolkata on May 6 to find his missing father. "The police and air force are doing their job.I have been checking at government hospitals and the Howrah station but have had no luck," said Tarun Shukla, the officer's son.

For now, the air force is treating it as a case of absence without leave. But the family is concerned. "My father has no history of mental illness," Tarun Shukla said. "Doctors had said he was fit for release and return to work."

Mr Shukla, who had his 53rd birthday on Wednesday, was supposed to visit Nagpur, where his son lives. His wife had been staying with her son.
 
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