Poor mobile network causes colonel's 'abduction' scare

The reported abduction of an army colonel from his hometown Guwahati yesterday turned out to be a false alarm, caused by his cell phone going off due to poor connectivity, giving anxious moments to the family and the army for 16 hours.

As colonel Dayal Kakoti of the 13 Mahar Regiment left home in Pub Sarania around 8pm to visit a relative at Rangiya, 60km away, he lost cell phone contact with his family members, who panicked and thought he had been abducted, an army source said.

The colonel, who was recently transferred from Jammu & Kashmir to Tezpur, was on transit leave and was visiting his family in his hometown when the incident occurred.

Family members lodged a complaint with the police at 10pm yesterday and reported the matter to the corps headquarters in Tezpur.

While a frantic search by the police, army, and family members proved futile, the mobile network beamed again and the 'missing' colonel resurfaced, much to the relief of his family and the army.

"The family could not reach him on his mobile since last evening and hence the miscommunication," an army officer in Guwahati said on telephone.

The army did not identify the mobile network the colonel was using.