When Kunhi Krishnan Nair, 77, left his Thane West home on April 30, 2018, at 3 pm to go to his daughter Dr Sini Panicker’s in-laws' home, a familiar 10-minute walking route that he took, Nair’s wife Sushila was not worried. Yet, after he did not return for three hours, anxiety turned to alarm and by nightfall, it was panic.

Disappearance

Dr Sini Panicker, who is a Muscat-based anaesthesiologist, said, “It has been three-and-a-half years since my always-smiling father simply ‘vanished’. My brother Sudeesh Nair is a chartered accountant (CA) who lives in Toronto, Canada. We were overseas, and my parents lived at Hiranandani Estate in Thane. My father took voluntary retirement from the Indian Air Force in 1979, after which he worked as a security officer at the Tata Cancer Hospital, Parel, for years. He was leading a retired life, battling some health problems like diabetes. He also had short-term memory loss. His mental health did deteriorate to some degree over the years, and we used to restrict his mobility when it came to going out of the house for this very reason. He would disobey at times, and leave the house despite my mother telling him not to do so. He had a wallet with his name, telephone numbers and address inside. He did not carry a mobile phone.”