Family waits for missing 19-yr-old to return home

His family have waited two months for 19-year-old Jagdish Raval's return. The young son of a dairy owner disappeared from his home one night inexplicably. Jagdish, a resident of Prabhat colony in Vakola, Santacruz, tied the knot with Gauri, who hails from Surat, eight months ago in an arranged marriage. According to his relatives, on February 4, Jagdish got up early and began a phone conversation with his wife, who had gone to her hometown for some religious ritual. The family said the youngster was repeatedly speaking to Gauri through the day.u00a0

Bheru Raval, Jagdish's father at his dairy shopu00a0

"At around 10 pm, Jagdish sent an SMS saying ‘sorry' to his wife and then switched off his cellphone. The next day was Sunday. My younger son woke up in the morning and found that Jagdish was missing from home. Till now he remains untraceable," said Jagdish's father Bheru Raval.u00a0The family contacted Jagdish's friends but with no results. Finally a complaint was lodged with Vakola police.u00a0

Vanishing Act: Jagdish Raval (above left), who has been missing since February 5.u00a0

Talking terms
Through call detail records, cops found that several calls had been exchanged between the couple. Also, a call was made by a person from Valsad to Gauri.
The police located this person, named Jitendra, and showed him Jagdish's photo. Identifying him, Jitendra said Jagdish came to Valsad the day after he left home. Jitendra was brought to Vakola police station and questioned for two days, after which he was allowed to go. Cops have also asked Gauri to come to the police station, but she is right now with her relatives in Rajasthan, where she went directly from Surat. In her conversations with her in-laws, Gauri too has expressed her astonishment at her husband's sudden disappearance. "It's been two months now and I have no idea where my son is. Not a single call from him; everything is completely blank. His phone has remained unreachable since. If there is something wrong, I should at least know about it," said Bheru.

Apart from Vakola police, the case is now also being investigated by Mumbai crime branch and additional CP Vishwas Nangre-Patil's western region squad. Meanwhile, speaking on condition of anonymity, a police officer from Vakola said, "We have been told that Jagdish had an argument with his younger brother the night before he went missing, and that the father rebuked his elder son over this. We are trying to find out if that is why he left home."u00a0Bheru Raval, however, rejected this theory. u00a0