Missing man from city found in Pakistan's police custody

Hyderabad: A man from Hyderabad named M Prashanth (31) was arrested in Pakistan along with one Durmi Lal from Madhya Pradesh for allegedly entering into Pakistan territory illegally.

The duo reportedly were found wandering in the Cholistan desert in Bahawalpur district.

The Pakistan police arrested them, who were hiding behind a sand dune. Prashanth had been missing since 2017 and also a complaint was lodged with Madhapur police, said Prashanth's father Babu Rao.

Prashanth's family belongs to Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh State After completion of his B Tech (CSE), he was employed by a software firm located in Bengaluru.

There he met a girl and fell in love with her. Later, she migrated to Switzerland. Prashanth went into depression after the girl spurned his moves.

Prashanth came back to Hyderabad and started working for a software firm in Madhapur. Later, on April 11, 2017, Prashanth told his family that he was leaving for office, but he neither turned up at office nor returned home.

Following this, on April 29, 2017 his family members lodged a missing complaint in Madhapur police station. On receipt of the complaint, police formed special teams and also alerted the police of neighbouring States to search for him but in vain.

A video was released in Pakistani media on Monday in which the person speaking in Telugu was identified as Prashanth addressing his parents.

In a minute-long video, he was seen asking the Pakistani officials if he can speak in Telugu, to which they agreed.

Addressing his parents, Prashanth said, "I have been brought to the court from the police station. Now, I will be sent to jail.

Afterwards, the Indian Embassy will be contacted; thereafter, the embassy will contact you (parents). I will be released within a month.

India and Pakistan will exchange prisoners and that will take time. Once I go to jail, the process for bail will start."

After watching the video which went viral on social media, the Telangana police started their enquiry in the case and sought information from his father Babu Rao, who is presently staying with his eldest son and daughter-in-law in an apartment at Bhagath Singh Nagar in Phase-I Kukatpally.

Police and family members intensified their efforts to bring back Prashanth to India from Pakistan with the help of Ministry of External Affairs.