Ashraf Sayyad, 20, a resident of Mahim, who had gone missing for three months, kept the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), cyber police, and Mahim police on their toes, who feared that he might be involved in anti-national activities. The inquiry revealed that Sayyad was afraid of appearing for HSC exams and left his home out of guilt. Sayyad told the ATS officers and police that he did not wish to appear for HSC examinations and was fearing that he would fail too.
According to police, Sayyad went missing on the night of February 27, just a day before his HSC exams were to commence. The disappearing act triggered suspicions because prior to the act, Sayyad had been keeping mostly to himself and would spend hours in a cyber cafe chatting online. The ATS, cyber police, Mahim police, and the Intelligence Bureau combined, struggled to track him down. He was later found working in a hotel in Shirdi on June 1.
Sayyad was found after his employer Laxman Jadhav, owner of Sai Prasad Hotel in Shirdi called his family members and informed about him working there. Jadhav told the police that he did not know that Sayyad was absconding because he had told him that he has lost his memory. Jadhav had found him at a bus stand in Shirdi on February 28.
ATS officers said, “When we interrogated him, he lied initially, saying he has lost his memory. On pressing further he confessed that he was not prepared to write his exams and did not wish to appear for it either. We will still keep a watch on him.”
