Telugu man missing since 2006 located in Bangladesh with help of HAM operators

A Telugu man who went missing from Hyderabad in 2006 was found alive in Bangladesh after 19 years. Ham radio operators and a social worker helped trace Chirra Prasada Rao, who had disappeared due to mental health issues, and reconnect him with his family in Andhra Pradesh.

Hyderabad: In what appears to be a plot straight from a movie, a man who mysteriously vanished from Hyderabad nearly 19 years ago was finally found in neighbouring Bangladesh. It was the vast network of HAM operators that helped him reunite with his family.

In the year 2006, Chirra Prasada Rao, then a 27-year-old working as a helper with Larsen & Toubro Limited, disappeared after struggling with mental health issues. His emotional distress stemmed from not being able to secure a government job after completing a fitter ITI trade course from a college in Kukatpally in 1996.

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He was married and had a daughter as well. Given his condition, he had left home a few times earlier but always returned after a couple of days.

However, in 2006 he went missing again, this time never to return. After years of searching and filing missing person complaints, the family lost hope and even assumed Rao was dead. His parents, who fell ill after the incident, also passed away.

His elder brother Lakshmipathi Rao Chirra recalled taking Prasada Rao for medical consultations which did not help. “We searched the entire Andhra Pradesh for almost four years and, failing to locate him, feared he might have passed away. Even his wife and daughter left, and we have no contact with them now,” he said.

However, hopes of the family were revived after a Bangladesh social worker, Abdul Gani Fitur, found Rao, now 55, sitting alone at Golabari Railway Station in Bangladesh a few days ago.

Despite repeated questioning by Fitur, Rao remained silent, only smiling at times. Assuming that the man had mental issues, the social worker took Rao to his house and informed the West Bengal Radio Club of Ham Radio.

West Bengal Radio Club Secretary Ambarish Nag Biswas told Telangana Today over a call on Friday that they circulated the information across the Ham Radio community and NGOs. “We finally managed to trace the man’s family to East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh through a local police station. We are delighted to help unite Rao with his family,” he said.

Following the information, the Kothapeta Police in East Godavari passed on the details to Rao’s family and connected with Biswas, who in turn arranged a video call, uniting the family with the missing person.

Lakshmipathi Rao, who spoke to his brother, said he could not recognise his younger sibling as he had become fragile and unrecognisable. “I cried a lot seeing him so frail and with that beard. Barring a few smiles, he did not speak anything. My other brother, who is in Telangana Police, is doing the documentation work to bring him back,” he added.