Navi Mumbai man tells wife he has COVID-19, goes missing; found with lover in Indore

A 28-year-old married man from Maharastra's Navi Mumbai, who went missing in July after telling his wife that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, was found on Tuesday in Indore with his girlfriend, police said.

According to police, the man who is a resident of Taloja made a dramatic call to his wife on July 24 and informed her that he has tested positive for coronavirus test and claimed to end his life. Before the puzzled wife could ask any more questions, he disconnected the call. She then called up her brother for help who reached out to the police and filed a missing person's complaint after he spotted the man's bike parked in a street in the Vashi area with all his belongings including his wallet, bike keys, and office bag placed on the bike.

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Soon after, the man's belongings were spotted the police searched different COVID care centres, testing facilities across the city and even at the Vashi Creek, anticipating the worst that the man was murdered.

Subsequently, the police started investigating the matter and tried tracing his location. Security camera footage from nearby areas was also checked. However, the investigation efforts went in vain as the man's phone had been turned off and cannot be traced.

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As the probe intensified, the police learned about the man's extra-marital affair. After a month-long search, the police got to know that he was in Indore living with his girlfriend with a fake identity at a rented accommodation.

When a team was sent by Vashi SHO Sanjiv Dhumal to Indore, the missing man was finally found with his girlfriend. He was brought back to Mumbai on September 15.  

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COVID-19 situation in Mumbai

As Mumbai continues to be under section 144, the city on Friday, reported 2267 new cases and 52 deaths - seeing a surge in fatalities. The city also sees 925 new recoveries taking the cured tally to 1,37,664. Mumbai which follows Pune as the second-worst hit COVID district has 1,80,542 cases of which 34,136 active cases, and 8372 fatalities.

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(With inouts from ANI)