VISAKHAPATNAM: In September 2012, Sadhana Pandey, a civil engineer and daughter of a retired naval officer, went missing from Vizag city. She was 22 at the time. The case remains unsolved, though more than nine years have passed since the registration of her missing case at Dwaraka police station in the city.
Sadhana is the daughter of Harischandra Pandey, who was posted at Eastern Naval Command at the time. After completing her B.Tech in civil engineering, she had joined a private construction company in Vizag city. Her father moved to Mumbai post his retirement, but she chose to stay in a private hostel in Seethammadhara to further her career.
On September 24, 2012, she informed her office that her father had met with an accident in Mumbai and she needed to leave for Mumbai immediately. She also informed the same to her hostel warden, that she was heading for Mumbai to visit her father. However, she never reached Mumbai nor returned to Vizag. The case continues to remain a mystery.
In February 2013, Sadhana’s father approached Vizag city police, following which a missing case was registered at Dwaraka police station. Bola Srinivasa Rao (then sub-inspector of Dwaraka PS), who did the initial investigation, said the last tower location of Sadhana was in Vizag city. “We tried to trace her by analysing her social media accounts, and questioned her friends, colleagues, and the staff of the private hostel, but did not get any lead,” Rao, who is now an inspector with central crime station, told TOI.
Sadhana’s father had named one Rambhir Singh Rawat as a suspect in the case. Rawat was an employee of ENC and a resident of Malkapuram. He allegedly made phone calls to Sadhana the day she went missing. Rawat was interroagted, but police could not make any breakthrough in connection with the case. He later sought relief from the court.
The case was later investigated by the crime investigation department. “Despite our best efforts, it remains one of those rare case where we failed to make any breakthrough. Unidentified bodies found at various places were cross-checked but none of the bodies matched with the description of the missing woman,” said Krishna Rao, the then inspector of Dwaraka zone police station who was also among the investigating officers.
Sadhana’s father, however, has still not lost hope. “I plan to visit Vizag soon and meet the police chief. I will make a fresh appeal to reopen the case. I am still hopeful that she will return,” Pandey told TOI. Police said the case remains among the ‘undetected’ files and they will reopen it if they get any concrete clues.
Despite our best efforts, it remains one of those rare case where we failed to make any breakthrough. Unidentified bodies found at various places were cross-checked but none of the bodies matched with description of the missing
