Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Sep 18: A 46-year-old Pune-based laundry businessman, whose wife had reported him missing from Mumbai International Airport and alleged that he had been abducted, turned up at Sahar police station on Wednesday night.

The businessman told police that he had switched off his mobile phone and gone to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST) with a female friend after their planned trip to Malaysia was cancelled.

He was scheduled to fly to Kuala Lumpur on Monday night for what he had told his family was a “business trip”. Police, however, said he had actually planned to travel with a woman friend.

The woman was stopped during immigration clearance after officials found that she was carrying an old passport. Following this, the two cancelled their trip.

According to the FIR, earlier that morning, two friends dropped the businessman at the airport. He later called his wife from a landline and claimed that he had surrendered his mobile phone because of an immigration-related issue.

At around 3.35pm, he made a WhatsApp video call to his wife and told her that the issue would soon be resolved. His phone was subsequently switched off, and his friends were unable to contact him.

Concerned about his whereabouts, his wife approached Sahar police, following which a case of abduction and kidnapping was registered.

The businessman later appeared at Sahar police station and explained that he had gone to CST with his female friend after the Malaysia trip was called off.