As cops suspect the worst, family urges them to widen search for bank exec who went missing on his morning walk
Harsh Arora(left) with his family
The Bhandup police have been looking in vain for a 43-year-old morning walker who vanished from the service road along the Eastern Express Highway on October 30. Harsh Arora, a sales manager at a private bank, left home for a walk and was running towards Gandhi Nagar when he disappeared. A dedicated team of cops is fanning a stretch of 3 km covered with mangroves to ascertain what happened. The two non-operational cameras on the highway have made the search harder.
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Harsh Arora lives with his wife Reena and 8-year-old son at Dreams Complex, Bhandup (West). A fitness enthusiast and regular morning walker, he would leave his house daily around 4.30 am and take a walk of around 4-5 km, returning home around 7 am.
On Monday (October 30), Arora left his home as usual but didn’t return. “Initially I thought he had gone running to Thane where his bike was given for servicing. I contacted my brother-in-law and asked him to check if he had gone there, but he hadn’t. Then I got anxious and rushed to the police station with relatives,” Reena said, adding that the Bhandup police launched a search soon after registration of the missing report, filed at 4.51 pm.
Harsh Arora
According to an officer from Bhandup police station, Arora was wearing a black sleeveless T-shirt and track pants. He was seen getting into the lift at 4.25 am, stretching his arms and leaving the building. “From there he can be seen walking towards Airoli via Fortis Hospital, Mulund. He can be seen till the junction at JVLR, walking towards Bhandup village on the northbound service road. There are no traces of him thereafter,” the officer said, adding that a dedicated team has been appointed for the search operation.
“It is so distressing to know that an express highway in Mumbai city doesn’t have two CCTV cameras working. If the cameras were non-functional then what kind of maintenance standards do the authorities have?” questioned Kavita Arora, Harsh’s sister-in-law. She further stated that Arora didn’t have many valuables on his person and only wore a gold chain, a ring and a smartwatch. “The family has every right to know what happened.”
Meanwhile, cops deployed a sniffer dog on Thursday in a bid to trace Arora. However, the dog couldn’t pick up a scent as a few days have passed since his disappearance. The police team even met multiple persons who were along the route between 5 am and 7 am to gather information.
“We are trying to track him in every possible way. Arora) wasn’t carrying the mobile phone and so we are relying on human intelligence to know what happened to him,” said Dattatray Khandagale, senior inspector of Bhandup police station.
The dedicated police team is focused on the 3 km stretch from JVLR Junction to Gandhi Nagar Junction of the service road to obtain clues. Officers have fanned the marshy land surrounding the road and a nullah, suspecting it to be a hit-and-run case. “Our men have also checked the bushes nearby to see if there are any signs of someone being dragged in or if there are any bloodstains in the area,” said an officer.
Arora recently switched to HDFC Bank as an area sales manager. He was into fitness and would take long walks. The cops have checked hospitals and mortuaries to know whether there are any unclaimed bodies as well. Meanwhile, the family is insisting on the use of drones to know if he was harmed and dumped in the marshy land near Bhandup village. The police will also use drones to check swamp lands.
“We are trying our level best and exploring every option to track him. We have not ruled out any possibility,” said Purushottam Karad, DCP (Zone 7).
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