CBI traces missing Himachal youth in Maharashtra

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) successfully traced a missing youth from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi at Trimbakeshwar in Maharashtra, an official said here on Thursday.

The youth, whose identity has not been disclosed, was reported missing from his village Thira since January 2013.

His family alleged that he had been kidnapped with intent to murder or confined to prevent him from getting married on February 3-4, 2013.

On January 28, he left his home to go for shopping in Chandigarh. While returning to his native village by bus, he reportedly went missing.

A complaint was lodged with police in Mandi district, but they failed to trace him.

The family moved the Himachal Pradesh High Court which ordered the CBI to take over the investigations and find the missing youth in December 2014.

After intense efforts, he was traced to a place in Ujjhani in Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh, but the CBI team learnt that he had renounced the world.

He became a monk and had gone to the Kumbh Mela of Nashik-Trimbakeshwar, where the CBI team located him at Neelgiri Parbat.

The CBI suspects that he had run away en-route from Chandigarh to his village in January 2013.

The youth was produced before the Himachal Pradesh High Court where the judges lauded the CBI's role and efforts in cracking the case, leading to a happy ending for the family.

After the youth agreed, he was sent home with his mother and sister who were present in the court.