In a tragic incident that has come to light, a 28-year-old Indian man has gone missing in Azerbaijan after he went on a solo trip 14 days ago.
Dharan took to the Instagram page 'Humans Of Bombay' and wrote a note for his missing brother.
"The boy you see in the photo is my Bhai (brother), Manikanth and he has been missing for the past two weeks… I haven’t been able to eat, or sleep… all I think about is, ‘Where is he?'" Dharan wrote, sharing a few photographs of Manikanth.
"On 26 April 2022, my 28-year-old brother, Manikanth Kondaveeti, went on a solo trip to Baku in Azerbaijan. He did not reply to our WhatsApp messages on 12 May and since he was in a foreign country, we started feeling worried," his brother Dharan Kondaveeti said in a social media post.
Sharing a long emotional message, Dharan wrote, "Even though Manikanth is my older brother, he’s my best buddy. He taught me how to play cricket & football, & got me addicted to computer games; Mom & Dad would get mad seeing us on our computers for hours. We always had each other’s back."
Further, in the note, Dharan also mentioned that his brother was a traveller and loved visiting new places.
“Bhai's a traveller -- I loved hearing about his adventures! So, when bhai told me he's going on a solo trip to Azerbaijan; I was excited. A day before leaving, he came to Delhi to stay with me – we went for dinner. Next morning, I dropped him to the airport and said, 'Next time, I'll come too.'”
Giving details, Dharan further wrote on Instagram, "So, when Bhai told me he’s going on a solo trip to Azerbaijan; I was excited. A day before leaving, he came to Delhi to stay with me–we went for dinner. Next morning I dropped him to the airport & said, ‘Next time, I’ll come too.’"
He left on April 26th, said Dharan.
Dharan said that May 12 was the last day that the family spoke with Manikanth.
"We spoke daily until the 12th…12th May, 7 PM was the last time we spoke. I messaged him later but it didn’t deliver. I pacified myself by saying, ‘Maybe he has no network,’" the note further read.
Dharan said that after the attempts to contact Manikanth failed day after day, he and the family got in touch with the Indian embassy in Azerbaijan.
"So I contacted the Indian embassy in Azerbaijan. They said, ‘He might be in the hills.’ They assumed he was gallivanting & asked us not to worry. But how could we not? We contacted everyone in the embassy until one said, ‘We’ll send a search party," Dharan further informed on the social media post.
The next day, Manikanth's luggage was found at the hotel. "We accessed his Google account and found his location details for the 13th morning; he was at a hut on the outskirts of the city…that scared me," Dharan states.
"We’ve contacted everyone–CM, Home Minister & the PM; we even circulated his pictures—we’re doing our best to find him," Dharan stated speaking about their continued efforts to find his brother.
Dharan has also requested the public to help the family find Manikanth by signing a petition.
Manikanth Kondaveeti left India on April 26. His family sensed trouble when their WhatsApp messages went answered on May 12 and since then they have not been able to contact him.
(with NDTV inputs)
