Mumbai: A 46-year-old Pune-based businessman who was reported missing from Mumbai airport by his wife has turned up at a police station, with investigators discovering that he had allegedly gone off the radar after a planned trip to Kuala Lumpur with a female friend was cancelled.
The businessman, who runs a laundry business, had reportedly told his family that he was travelling to Kuala Lumpur for work. Police later found that he had planned to make the trip with a woman friend on September 14.
Malaysia Trip Cancelled at Airport
According to police, the planned journey came to an abrupt end at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai when immigration officials stopped the woman accompanying him.
Police said she was carrying an old passport that she had previously reported as lost. As a result, the proposed international trip was cancelled.
Investigators said the businessman then allegedly switched off his mobile phone and left the airport with the woman, travelling towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.
Before leaving the airport, however, he reportedly called his wife from a landline and claimed that he had been forced to surrender his mobile phone because of an immigration-related problem.
Wife Files Kidnapping FIR
The following day, the businessman reportedly spoke briefly with his wife through a WhatsApp video call and repeated the explanation about the immigration issue. His phone subsequently became unreachable.
Concerned about his whereabouts, his wife approached the police on Wednesday, following which a kidnapping and abduction case was registered based on her complaint.
The mystery took a different turn later that night when the businessman learned that a police case had been registered. He reportedly went to Sahar police station and admitted that the immigration story he had told his wife was fabricated.
Police Prepare to Close Case
Police said there was no evidence that the businessman had been kidnapped. Instead, investigators concluded that he had deliberately remained unreachable after his overseas travel plans fell through.
Police are expected to submit a “C Summary” closure report to the court within two weeks. Officials explained that this classification can be used when a case arises from a genuine mistake of fact or when the allegations are found to be neither completely true nor completely false.
The case, which initially raised concerns about a possible kidnapping, ultimately led police to uncover an allegedly concealed international travel plan, a cancelled Malaysia trip and a fabricated explanation given to the businessman’s wife.
