Farrukhabad : A single word, scribbled in a diary after years of silence, helped police solve a missing person mystery that had remained unsolved for nearly a decade.
Shyam Singh, a man from Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh, was finally reunited with his family after spending around 10 years away from home. The clue that led police to him was surprisingly simple “Rajepur” the name of the place where he once lived.
Singh had disappeared from his home years ago. His family knew that he had been dealing with mental health problems when he went missing and spent years trying to find him. Despite their efforts, there was no clear information about where he had gone.
Meanwhile, Singh had made his way to the Majkhali and Tarikhet areas of Uttarakhand’s Almora district. Over the years, he became a familiar figure to people in the area. But he could not tell anyone who he was or where his family lived.
The breakthrough came when Sub Inspector Vinod Fartyal of the Majkhali police outpost met Singh while police were working to identify vulnerable and missing people in the area.
At first, officers tried talking to him and asking questions about his home and relatives. But Singh was unable to give them enough information to trace his family. Then Fartyal tried something different.
He gave Singh a pen and a diary and asked him to write down anything he remembered. Singh wrote just one word “Rajepur.”That was enough to give the police a lead.
Officers contacted the Rajepur police station in Farrukhabad and shared Singh’s photograph and other details. After making inquiries, they were able to establish his identity as Shyam Singh, a resident of Rajepur Rathoudi village. The police then contacted his family.
When Singh’s son and other relatives travelled from Uttar Pradesh to the Majkhali police outpost, a search that had lasted almost 10 years finally came to an end. For his family, the reunion brought an answer to a question they had lived with for years where was Shyam Singh?
The case is also a reminder that missing person investigations can sometimes turn on the smallest details. In Singh’s case, repeated questions had failed to produce an answer. A pen, a diary and one remembered place name did what years of searching could not.
After nearly a decade, one word “Rajepur” finally helped bring Shyam Singh back to his family.