Kunal M Shah/Mumbai Mirror

• During shooting of Ashtavinayaka’s latest film in Pattaya, cinematographer Mahendra Shetty goes missing after first day of shooting; his phone and passport were found in his hotel room 

Thailand, Aug 15: The cast and crew of Ashtavinayaka’s latest film (untitled) have found themselves in the middle of a real-life mystery. Mahendra Shetty, the cameraman of the film suddenly vanished from the sets of the film in Bangkok on August 10. The film is being directed by Rohit Jugraj (James) and stars Kunal Khemu, Tulip Joshi and newcomer Aushima from Bangalore.

Shetty disappeared right after the first day’s shoot, stalling all further shooting. Director Rohit along with a couple of production people have stayed back in Bangkok to look for him.

Jugraj said, “We had reached Pattaya, which is a couple of hours from Bangkok on August 10 and started shooting. After the day’s shoot, we all went to our hotel rooms and slept as we had an early morning. In the morning, my production man announced that Shetty was yet to come and no one was picking up his phone line.

“I left for the location and asked them to bring Mahendra to the location. But there was no sign of him all day. I later found out that they had gone to his room and opened it with the help of the hotel staff but he was not inside. Even his cellphone was still as he had left it on the charging machine. His passport was also in his room. We then filed a complaint with the local police. But when he did not appear even the next day, we began to get very worried. We got in the touch with the Indian embassy there and told them of our predicament,” Rohit said.

He added, “The next day we started looking for him frantically and even visited the hospitals around the city. There are four major hospitals and many small ones where we looked but we did not find him anywhere,” said Jugraj.

He then decided to speak to Shetty’s sister who stays in Mumbai to find out if any money had recently been withdrawn on his credit card.

“She confirmed that it had, so we will now be tracing that through the CCTVs at all ATM centres. We now know that money has been withdrawn from two ATMs in Pattaya and one in Bangkok so we will follow the trail accordingly,” he added.

When he did not appear all day, the crew opened his room with the help of the hotel staff but he was not inside. His cellphone was still there on the charging machine. His passport was also in his room. – Rohit Jugraj Director of the film

“We have sent the unit back and now my producer Rupen, production guy Pappubhai, a camera assistant and I have stayed back to look for him. I met Bisnoi, the Indian ambassador and Jay Chandran from the embassy. Despite August 15 being a holiday they said they will keep the embassy open and help us. We are forming two teams and will be looking for him everywhere,” Rohit said.

He added, “We will not leave here until we find him and hopefully we will find him soon.”

Tulip Joshi, one of the stars of the film, said, “This is simply unbelievable and I am shocked. I just hope and pray he is fine and that we find him soon.”