In bizarre case, man remains missing for two months after boarding flight to India

In a highly unusual case, a 30-year-old Indian resident of Abu Dhabi has remained missing for almost two months after boarding an India-bound flight in August.

The case has led Delhi Police to launch an investigation into the matter.

The name of the missing person is Ranjan Swain, originally from Odisha. He was working in a company in Abu Dhabi. This trip marked his return to India after three years.


Ranjan's father, Akshay Swain, filed a complaint stating that his son was scheduled to return to India on August 17. The last contact Ranjan had was with his sister while he was in Abu Dhabi, where he also shared his ticket details. "A few days after he became untraceable, we contacted the company, and they confirmed that he had left for India with his friend Faheem Ahmad," Akshay mentioned.

The family sought assistance from the Global Odia Volunteer, an NGO, which confirmed with the UAE embassy that Ranjan had departed Abu Dhabi for India on August 18. However, the family received several calls demanding money and threatening Ranjan's life, leading them to suspect a possible kidnapping case in or around Delhi.

In response to the complaint, Delhi Police registered a case under Section 365 of the Indian Penal Code (kidnapping or abduction with the intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person).

Ravi Sharma from the NGO revealed that the family had taken a loan to send Ranjan to the UAE. Despite efforts by the family and Odisha Police, a search in Delhi has yielded no clues.

According to Ranjita, the victim's sister, her brother had gone to the UAE to work to support the family and was returning home after three years. "When he became untraceable, I called up the person with whom he had returned. He told me that the two parted ways at the airport, and Ranjan went to hire a taxi to the railway station," she told ToI.