Around 150-200 locals have come forward to help police in searching lawyer: Top cop (Representational)
A lawyer has gone missing under mysterious circumstances in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district and his family suspects that he has been kidnapped, the police said on Sunday.
A major search operation has been launched to locate the lawyer, who had left home in Khurja Nagar on Saturday evening with some associates but have not returned, officials said.
"Dharmendra Chaudhary, a practising lawyer here, had left with some of his associates. Around 10.45 pm his phone was found stitched off and he has not returned home since."
"His family approached the police and an FIR has been lodged under IPC section 364 (kidnapping or abduction in order to murder)," senior senior police official, Bulandshahr, Santosh Kumar Singh said.
He said a combing operation was launched on Saturday night which was underway even on Sunday evening.
Dog squads were pressed into service and hundreds of locals too chipped in for the search operation.
"During the search, Chaudhary's motorcycle was found abandoned at a place around five to seven-km from his phone location. While technical surveillance was put in use, dog squads were also called in which have led the police to a dense jungle near some sugarcane farms," Mr Singh said.
The district police chief said around 150 to 200 locals from Khurja Nagar have come forward to help the police in the search for the lawyer. He expressed hope that Mr Chaudhary's whereabouts would be tracked soon.