Mehdiratta’s Houdini act a face-saver: police

NEW DELHI: Four days after Deepak Mehdiratta, a corporate executive from Gurgaon, went missing mysteriously, police said on Tuesday they suspect he may have “disappeared voluntarily”.

“The family has not received ransom calls or threats yet and the whereabouts of Mehdiratta are still not known. Our investigation reveals he owes money to several people and may have disappeared voluntarily,” said Satendra Kumar, DCP (East), Gurgaon.

Contrary to claims of the Mehdirattas that Deepak had gone to meet a property dealer the day he went missing, police claim he neither went to meet the dealer in question, nor did he have any such appointment.

“The family claims Mehdiratta had gone to meet someone at Aashirwad Properties on Thursday, the day he disappeared. But Aashirwad deny any such appointment or meeting,” Kumar said.

The testimony of the eyewitness who saw a man walking out of Mehdiratta’s Honda City before it caught fire early on Friday morning on Delhi-Jaipur highway also raises doubts.

“The eyewitness said he saw a man coming out of the car before it caught fire. The man then disappeared in the dark. Had the car caught fire due to a technical snag, the driver would have raised an alarm,” Kumar pointed out.

Police say Mehdiratta is insured for a large sum of money and his disappearance could be a plot to get it. A claim the Mehdirattas deny. “Police just want to close the case and are hurling all kinds of accusations therefore.”