A 25-year-old student from Hyderabad, studying in the United States (US), has gone missing there since March 7 and his family in Hyderabad said they received a "ransom" call. The student is identified as Mohammed Abdul, who is a resident of Nacharam.
He went to the US in May 2023 to pursue a Master's in Information Technology (IT) from Cleveland University, and was staying in Cleveland, his family said. Mohammed Saleem, Abdul's father, said his son last spoke to him on March 7, and since then, he has not been in touch with his family and his mobile phone has been switched off.
It is reported that Abdul's roommates in the US informed him that they lodged a missing complaint with Cleveland Police. However, on March 19, Abdul's family received a call from an unidentified person, who claimed that Abdul had been kidnapped allegedly by a gang selling drugs and demanded USD 1,200 (Rs 99,826.162) to "release" him.
Additionally, the caller also threatened to sell Abdul's kidneys if the ransom wasn't paid, his father said. Speaking to PTI, Saleem said, "Yesterday, I got a call from an unknown number, and the caller informed me that my son had been kidnapped and demanded money. The caller did not mention the mode of payment but just asked to pay the amount. When I asked the caller to allow us to talk to my son, he refused.”
Worried over the matter, Abdul's parents requested the Central government to take necessary measures to locate and bring back their son safely. Saleem also wrote a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in this regard, PTI reported.
