New York:

The Consulate Basic of India in New York is working with native legislation enforcement authorities to discover a 25-year-old Indian pupil in Cleveland who has been lacking because the starting of this month.

Mohammad Abdul Arfath, hailing from Nacharam, Hyderabad, arrived within the US in Could final 12 months to pursue a Masters in IT from Cleveland College.

His father Mohammed Saleem mentioned that Arfath final spoke to him on March 7. Since then, he has not been in contact together with his household and his cell phone is switched off.

The Indian Consulate mentioned in a submit on X that it’s in contact with Arfath’s household and authorities within the US. “We’re working with native legislation enforcement companies to seek out him on the earliest.” Arfath’s roommates within the US knowledgeable his father that they’ve lodged a lacking individuals criticism with Cleveland Police.

@IndiainNewYork is in contact with the Mr. Mohammad Abdul Arfath’s household and authorities within the US.

We’re working with native legislation enforcement companies to seek out him on the earliest. @DrSJaishankar@MEAIndia@IndianEmbassyUShttps://t.co/zbEzJSRFNN

— India in New York (@IndiainNewYork) March 20, 2024

On March 19, Arfath’s household obtained a name from an unidentified one who claimed that Arfath had been kidnapped allegedly by a gang promoting medication and demanded USD 1,200 to launch him.

The caller additionally threatened to promote Arfath’s kidneys if the ransom wasn’t paid, his father mentioned.

“Yesterday, I bought a name from an unknown quantity, and the caller knowledgeable me that my son has been kidnapped and demanded cash. The caller didn’t point out the mode of fee however simply requested to pay the quantity. Once I requested the caller to permit us to speak to my son however he refused,” Saleem advised PTI in Hyderabad.

Arfath’s mother and father have requested the central authorities to take vital measures to deliver again their son safely. Saleem has additionally written to Exterior Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on this regard.

The incident is the newest in a string of troubling circumstances pertaining to the protection and safety of Indian college students within the US. For the reason that starting of this 12 months, a number of circumstances of deaths of Indian and Indian-origin college students have brought on alarm and concern among the many group.

Earlier this week, the Consulate had posted on X concerning the loss of life of Abhijeeth Paruchuru, a 20-year-old Indian pupil, in Boston. Paruchuru’s mother and father, based mostly in Connecticut, had been in direct contact with detectives and preliminary investigations into his loss of life had dominated out any foul play.

Indian-American Sameer Kamath, 23, a pupil at Purdue College was discovered useless in a nature protect in Indiana in February. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the top, in line with authorities.

In January, 18-year-old Akul Dhawan, a pupil of the College of Illinois was discovered unresponsive outdoors a campus constructing. Investigations revealed that he died as a consequence of hypothermia. Authorities mentioned acute alcohol intoxication and extended publicity to extraordinarily chilly temperatures contributed to his loss of life.

In one other incident in January, 25-year-old Indian pupil Vivek Saini was hammered to loss of life by a homeless drug addict in Georgia.

(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)