Ajitabh Kumar has been missing since December 18th 2017 after his meeting an OLX buyer in Bengaluru. The young software engineer's family received delayed help from authorities on the matter, having gone from pillar to post from the Karnataka police to CID to the CBI as well.
Now, three years later the family has organised a campaign on Twitter on 6th September demanding justice for the missing techie.
Timeline: Investigating the missing techie's whereabouts
The 29-year-old Kumar Ajitabh went out to meet an OLX buyer in Whitefield, Bengaluru and since then never came home on 18th December 2017. The techie had made the cut at IIM Kolkata for an MBA and it was reported that perhaps that's why he planned to sell his car on OLX.
However, since then the techie from Bihar hasn't been seen. His family members have been working hard for the past three years since 2017 in demanding justice for him. In fact, police had said he was last active on WhatsApp at 7:10 pm after which his phone was switched off.
Ajitabh was attempting to sell his Maruti Ciaz. The Whitefield police had begun probing the case and collected CCTV footage to find more leads on Ajitabh's whereabouts. The police had also approached OLX for more details on the buyer. However, the police reached a dead-end in the case. Following which the CID also began probing the case.
In August 2018, a CID source was reported by TNM as saying, "Ajitabh's family members are ardent followers of the Swamiji of an ashram in Raj Vidya Kendra located in New Delhi. We suspected that Ajitabh may have gone to take shelter there. A few investigators had visited the ashram but have not found anything yet as there were problems regarding access to its members."
Ajitabh's father Ashok Kumar Sinha had reached out the Prime Minister's Office and filed an RTI so that the investigation would be given priority. Many online campaigns were organised to demand justice for the missing software engineer.
The PMO had written to the Director-General of Police in Karnataka, "As considerable time has elapsed since the incident, it is requested that the matter may please be looked into. It is requested that the petition is looked into with priority," TNM had reported in 2018. The CID at the time were probing the contacts and the Google ID of Soulful Ramesh who had chatted via e-mail with Ajitabh before he went missing.
The family rejected the claim at the time that Ajitabh could have run away from home. Moreover, the family moved the Karnataka High Court seeking a transfer of the case to CBI. This was nearly 11 months after the case had emerged. Soon after CBI had filed an FIR in November 2018, they registered a case under Section 363 of the IPC which refers to kidnapping.
As the case progressed The New Indian Express had reported that there would be a delay in the CBI probe as 1,000 pages of documents needed to be translated in Kannada. Moreover, an officer told TNIE, "As the case is very interesting, officers have decided to continue looking even after the CBI takes over the case. We have been asked to keep a tab in the possibility that we may get some lead in the case," at the time.
The family's online campaign
2 years and 9 months later, in Septemeber 2020 little headway has been made in this particular case and Ajitabh continues to be missing. The family has not given up hope in the case. Ajitabh's sister Pragya made an online appeal on Friday on Twitter, "My brother Ajitabh went missing from Bangalore on Dec 17 while going to meet an OLX buyer. Both Karnataka Police & CID couldn't nab the criminals & case was handed over to CBI. But 2 YEARS & 9 MONTHS have passed and they are still CLUELESS."
Speaking to IBTimes, Pragya says she's trying to reach people and get the case to be a priority, "At least tell us what happened. What happened with him? If he's no more, we are ready to accept that, but give us proof, at least tell us. And, get hold of those guys, those criminals. I mean if he's spoiled my brother's life, he might be spoiling other's life."
She says it's worse not knowing what happens to a loved one, and how long do they have to wait for justice? Pragya says:
When you don't know that is a terrible thing. I mean, a person, your loved one is with you in this moment and the next moment he's away. You're just scratching yourself and trying to know what happened or praying to god, tell me something."
Ajitabh's sister said that the pandemic has slowed down the investigation and that CBI has said they're working on it, however, no progress has been made on the case so far. Pragya says, that her father is struggling with dealing with the situation.
Pragya said, "Everything is public, everybody knows what had happened I mean it was all in news, there's nothing to hide and there's nothing to explain more."
On Sunday, the family has organised a protest on Twitter demanding justice for Ajitabh seeking answers to the numerous questions in the murky case. The questions to be raised will be where Ajitabh is? What is law enforcement doing about it and why it has taken them so long?
So far, the CBI or law enforcement agencies haven't made any comments about the matter or the case. Further details are awaited and will be published as and when received.
