shot-button
Subscription Subscription
Home > Mumbai > Mumbai News > Article > Mumbai mid day helps trace missing Mahim youth

Mumbai: mid-day helps trace missing Mahim youth

Updated on: 03 June,2017 08:04 AM IST  |  Mumbai
Shiva Devnath |

On reading mid-day's April 14 report about missing Mahim youngster, Nashik hotel owner contacts his family; ATS sleuths are now quizzing the 20-year-old before giving him a clean chit

Mumbai: mid-day helps trace missing Mahim youth

Ashraf Sayyed has been reunited with his mother Rehanna Sayyed at their Mahim home. Pics/Bipin Kokate
Ashraf Sayyed has been reunited with his mother Rehanna Sayyed at their Mahim home. Pics/Bipin Kokate


More than three months after a 20-year-old went missing from his home in Mahim, leaving his relatives worried that he had become involved in anti-national activities, it was a mid-day report that helped reunite the family yesterday. After weeks of the Anti-Terrorism Squad hunting for him, his own boss - a hotelier in Nashik - identified him from a report in this paper.


Ashraf
Ashraf's mother, Rehanna, is relieved her son is back home


Ashraf Sayyed went missing on the night of February 27, just a day before his HSC exam. mid-day had reported in April that the disappearing act triggered fears among his family and the police that the 20-year-old had got involved in anti-national activities. What raised suspicions further was the fact that right before he left, Ashraf would increasingly keep to himself. While he was missing, he kept in touch with relatives through private messages on Instagram, but did not respond to online queries from the police. The ATS, cyber police, Mahim police and even the Intelligence Bureau combined powers in their hunt for the youth, but struggled to track him down.

Also read - Mumbai: Family of Mahim youth, who went missing before HSC exam want him to return

Finding Ashraf
Then, on Wednesday, Ashraf's family received a call that changed everything. The caller identified himself as Laxman Jadhav, proprietor of Sai Prasad hotel in Nashik.

He told the Sayyed family that Ashraf was working at his hotel and that he had identified the youth from the mid-day report about his disappearance.

Also read: Lost in Kolkata, Meghalaya youth reunites with family after 4 years

Ashraf's family immediately informed the police and then hotfooted it to Nashik. Ashraf was finally reunited with his family in their Mahim home at 3 am on Friday.

Further investigation has revealed that on February 27, Ashraf boarded a train from Dadar to Nashik, where he met the hotelier, Jadhav.

"Since he is a good-looking boy and spoke good English, I offered him a job as a waiter at my hotel. I did not know that he had run away from home. He began working at my hotel and used to live there as well. I only wanted him to be safe, that's why I offered him a job," Jadhav told this reporter.

Also read: After 50 days, missing Malwani man held in Delhi

"Recently, when I was searching for a friend whose first name is also Ashraf, I came across a link to a mid-day report about another Ashraf – a boy who had gone missing from Mahim. When I saw the boy's photo in the article, I was surprised to see it was the same Ashraf who was working in my hotel," said Jadhav.

Memory loss?
Jadhav had to take some effort before he finally managed to get the contact number of Ashraf's brother, Fayyaz. The Nashik hotelier Jadhav told mid-day, "I had asked Ashraf about his family and home, but he claimed that he could not remember anything."

Also read: 26-year-old 'disappears' after being dropped off at the Mumbai airport

ATS officials and the Mahim police got the same answer upon questioning Ashraf, who kept telling them that he had left home because he was depressed, but could not remember anything from the past. He also claimed that he had no idea how he got to Nashik. The police said they are yet to establish whether he is telling the truth or is hiding something.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!


Mid-Day Web Stories

Mid-Day Web Stories

This website uses cookie or similar technologies, to enhance your browsing experience and provide personalised recommendations. By continuing to use our website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. OK