Physically challenged man goes missing from KIA

A 40-year-old man with a severe leg injury mysteriously went missing from the Kempegowda International Airport on Tuesday morning around the time he was to board an IndiGo flight to Jaipur.

The police said Richpal, a native of Bhojpur in Rajasthan, was working as a labourer in a tiles factory in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. He fractured his leg and had a few more injuries while at work. He decided to go home after doctors advised him rest during his discharge.

Since he was not in a condition to travel by train, his relative Mukesh Kumar Sony bought him a ticket on an IndiGo flight for July 10 at 11.15 am.

According to a senior police officer, on July 10, Sony brought Richpal to the airport around 9 am and dropped him near gate number 1 using the airport wheelchair, and informed his family to pick him up from the Jaipur airport.

Richpal's family went to receive him at the airport, but did not find him. They called up Sony and informed him that Richpal was missing. Sony inquired at the Bengaluru airport, but found no trace of the injured man he had left there. He went to the KIA police station on Saturday and registered a missing person complaint.

Speaking to DH, Sony said he had jotted down two phone numbers behind Richpal's air ticket. "The airport authorities said that he did not take the flight and returned. Where will he go when his mobility is limited? This is not the way they treat a physically challenged person," he said.

The airport police verified the CCTV cameras that showed Richpal's presence at the terminal, but there is no other sighting of him. The police are also checking the footage at the parking area and near the toll booth to find Richpal.