Longing for family, Maharashtra Armyman gives a 'miss' to new posting

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A 23-year-old Indian Army recruit, who went missing before joining his first posting in Amritsar, was tracked down in the eastern suburb of Mankhurd on Thursday, the police said on Friday.

Akash Bhoite, a resident of Patan in Maharashtra's Satara district, had gone missing after his family saw him off when he boarded the Paschim Express at Bandra Terminus on October 8, an official said.

Later, it turned out that Bhoite did not wish to stay away from his family and hence did not report for work after being posted in Punjab.

The jawan was to join an Army camp in Amritsar after undergoing a rigorous 18-month training at Nashik and 45-day leave to visit his home, he said.

After he boarded the Paschim Express to Amritsar, Bhoite's family lost all contact with him, the officer said. When one of his relatives filed a missing person's complaint with the Bandra Government Railway Police on October 13, the police launched a search for Bhoite, he said.

When the police tried tracing him with the help of mobile tower location of his cellphone, they found that Bhoite had reached Amritsar and returned to the city, he said. The police traced Bhoite after he placed a call to his friend Umesh Pawar, a resident of Mankhurd. On interrogation, Pawar told the police that Bhoite was staying with him and his roommates, senior inspector Vilas Chougule of the Bandra GRP said.

Bhoite, who was brought to the police station on Thursday, said he did not join his posting as he did not wish to stay away from his family.