Odisha Native ‘Disappears’ After Boarding Flight To India From UAE

Bhubaneswar: A Odisha native has been missing since his return to India from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he was working at a private company, last month.

Ranjan Swain (30) of Belapada in Khurda district was to leave Abu Dhabi with one of his colleagues on August 18 and reach New Delhi via Mumbai the same day. A week later, his family members filed a missing complaint alleging that he went incommunicado after departing from Abu Dhabi.

With the assistance of an NGO Global Odia Volunteers, they reached out to the Indian Embassy in UAE over phone and the embassy officials and Rajan’s company confirmed that he had boarded the flight. His family suspects foul play behind his mysterious disappearance as he was carrying the money earned from his workplace.

“He told me that he wanted to permanently return to India. I had last spoken to him on August 17 and he even shared his tickets with me on WhatsApp. The police should immediately question his colleague who returned to India with him, to ascertain his whereabouts,” his sister Ranjita told TNIE.

The report further said that police had received information that Ranjan was admitted to a hospital in New Delhi but the claim was later found to be untrue. “We have not been able to track his mobile phone since he has a foreign number. Efforts are on to trace him,” Khurda SP Siddharth Kataria was quoted as saying.