Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Jul 17: It has been three weeks since Malathi Shetty (65) from Korgi Charukottige near Tekkatte in the taluk went missing under mysterious circumstances. So far no clue whatsoever as to what happened to her or whether she was abducted, has emerged since she suddenly vanished in thin air on June 24 this year. Udupi superintendent of police, K Annamalai, visited her residence at Korgi on Thursday July 16 evening.

Annamalai met Malathi's husband, Bhaskar Shetty, son, Satish Shetty, and daughter, Sarala Shetty. He put some probing questions to family members in an effort to elicit information that might be useful in the investigation of this case. He wanted to know whether there was family quarrel, and the relationship and behaviour of Malathi with her family members, friends, and neighbours.

Speaking to Satish Shetty, Annamalai said the police have not yet concluded this to be a missing case, and promised to pursue investigation about the missing lady with added vigour. He asked the family members to come out with all information and issues relating to Malathi and the current state of affairs, so that they might be of some help to police personnel in their investigation.

He collected from the lady's close ones, information about her movements, behaviour, and local and far off places and people she visited during the last couple of years. As the family members expressed suspicion about the involvement of some locals, the SP promised to investigate the case from that angle too.

Speaking to media persons later, Annamalai said that the police personnel have been constantly trying to locate Malathi. "As she was wearing gold ornaments when she went missing, we have given fillip to investigation from various angles. On the face of it, it does not appear to be a case of kidnapping. Circumstantial evidences suggest that she went suddenly missing once she crossed the compound wall of her house. We have spread information about the lady to temples, old age homes, and other possible spots all over the state, and searches were conducted in a number of places. Local deputy superintendent of police, circle inspector, and sub-inspector, have been leading the investigation, and we are confident of cracking this case within a short time," he said.

He was accompanied by deputy superintendent of police, Manjunath Shetty, and circle inspector, Diwakar P M.

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