Mumbai, May 24: The Mumbai police’s anti-begging drive led to the rescue of a 25-year-old medical student from Nanded, who was suffering from mental health issues and begging on the streets after going missing for 47 days, officials said on Sunday.
According to the police, the youth, a third-year student of Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS), went missing en route to his college in Jalgaon on April 4, lost his bag and phone during the train journey, and ultimately ended up stranded and begging for food in Mumbai.
Abhay Suresh Belkoni was rescued from SV Road in the western suburb of Malad on Thursday, an official said.
“The youth appeared physically weak and was unable to respond clearly to questions due to his mental state. However, he managed to share his name and hometown,” the official from the Malad police station said.
The details were verified with the Tamsa police station in Nanded, where a missing persons complaint had been registered in his name, he said.
Investigations revealed that Abhay had lost all his belongings, including his mobile phone and identity documents, during his train journey to Jalgaon. Stranded in Mumbai without money or means of communication, he resorted to begging, the official said.
The Belkoni family had been frantically searching for Abhay since April 6, after he briefly contacted them using a railway vendor’s phone. However, the call got disconnected before he could explain his situation, and the vendor later informed the family that he had left.
After a futile search, the family lodged a formal missing person report with the Nanded police on May 16.
Following the verification, the police contacted Abhay’s father and the youth was safely reunited with his family the same day, the official added. (PTI)
