Facebook helps Pune police track missing man after 11 years

Facebook (FB), the social networking site, not only connects you to friends but can also help the police track down missing persons.

The latest instance being that of the Pune rural police tracking down Manohar Venkatraman Nemanivar (33) who was missing for 11 years from his home in Nanded.

After Manohar went missing from Nanded on December 28, 2000, his father Venkatraman who owns two restaurants in Nanded filed a missing complaint with the Nanded police station on January1, 2001.

Manohar’s family could trace Manohar, when he unwittingly contacted one of his childhood friends via Facebook recently. His Facebook status also revealed the fact that Manohar used to visit the Saibaba temple in Shirdi often. This enabled the cyber crime cell of the Pune rural police lay a trap for Manohar at Shirdi, where they nabbed him on July 5.

Sub-inspector Vikas Kumbhar of the cyber crime cell of Pune rural police told DNA, “Manohar was working at a resort in Goa as a waiter and when he came to know that his family was searching for him, he fled from Goa. However, we were able to track his whereabouts from his updates on Facebook and nab him when he was on his way to Pune from Shirdi.’’

Manohar’s family had come in large numbers from Nanded to meet him at the Chavannagar rural police headquarters on Wednesday.

His father Venkatraman told DNA, “I am speechless as I am yet to digest the truth but happy that my son has returned by the grace of God.’’