Indian Student Goes Missing In US, Parents In Hyderabad Get $1,200 Ransom Call

The parents of an Indian student studying in the US have received a ransom call demanding nearly a lakh rupees after their son went missing. The unidentified caller informed them their son had been kidnapped and threatened to sell his kidney.

Abdul Mohammed, a 25-year-old from Hyderabad, left home last May to pursue a master's degree in Information Technology at Cleveland University, Ohio.

His family claims he has not spoken to them since March 7.

Mohammed Saleem, Abdul's father, received a call last week from an unknown number, informing him that his son has been kidnapped by drug sellers in Cleveland.

The unidentified caller then demanded $1200 to release him but did not specify the mode of payment. He also threatened to sell a kidney of the student to the mafia if they refused to pay, his family said.

His parents then informed his relatives in the US, who filed a missing complaint with the Cleveland police. Mr Mohammed was wearing a white T-shirt, red jacket, and blue jeans, said the cops in their watch order.

In an effort to locate him, the family has also written to the Indian Council in Chicago.

The kidnapping was reported a week after another Indian student was found dead in the US, the ninth such incident in less than three months. The body of Abhijeeth Paruchuru, 20, an engineering student in Boston, was found in a car in a forest. But initial probe ruled out anything suspicious, the Consulate General of India in New York had said.