A MAN who “returned home after being kidnapped 31 years ago” is being investigated for fraud after he was allegedly reunited with a different family five months ago.
The happiness of a reunion was quickly shattered – as the currently unidentified Indian man has left the police and both family’s baffled.
Last Thursday, the man who was then known as Bhim Singh miraculously walked into a police station in Ghaziabad.
He claimed to have been abducted 31 years ago as an eight-year-old.
The man had recounted being kidnapped on his way home from school in 1993 and forced into child labour as a sheep and goat rearer.
But, in a shocking twist, an entirely different family from another area of India claimed him to be their son who had returned to them five months earlier.
A family from Dehradun came forward in July and claimed that the mysterious figure was in fact their son Monu Sharma, 25, who had come back after he was abducted 16 years prior.
They said their ‘son’ had left for Delhi to find a job, and they hadn’t heard from him since.
Santosh, the eldest of the four Singh siblings expressed doubt that the man could be anyone else but their family member.
They said: “Why should I doubt him? On seeing me, he had called me by my name. After meeting our second sister Rajo too, he called her by her pet name.”
Santosh’s father, Tularam said: “When I brought him home from the police station last week, he told me all about our house in Shaheed Nagar.
“Now, after getting information that he did the same thing with a family in Dehradun, I am not sure what to think.
“He tried to go out of the house alone several times. Around 9pm, he tried to convince us that he wanted to sleep alone on the ground floor.
“I thought that my missing son was back, and my family was finally complete.
“But now, I am wondering if we have been cheated.”
The mother of the family was more certain that the man was her son, arguing: “Some people came home and said we need to get evidence that he is our son.
“We will go for a DNA test to shut all their mouths.
“A mother’s eyes can’t be deceived. He is my son.”
MONU SHARMA’S STORY
Before returning under the name Bhim, he had already introduced himself as Monu Sharma.
He told officers that he had been abducted by unidentified individuals who took him to a remote area in Rajasthan.
According to his story, which is the first version of his kidnapping, he was forced to work as a labourer for a shepherd’s family.
He then claimed he was rescued by a truck driver who had visited the area to buy cattle.
Monu’s supposed mother, Asha, said: “When I saw his photograph in July, I knew it was him, my son.
“After so many years, I was overjoyed to have him back.
“We welcomed him into our home, and he began working in the Niranjanpur vegetable market.
“However, on Nov 21, he left for Delhi, saying he wanted to find better job opportunities.
“We asked him to call once he reached Delhi, but we never heard from him again.”
Asha’s husband, Kapil Dev Sharma, echoed his wife’s scepticism, noting: “I always suspected he was a fraud.
“He often quarrelled with us and even told my wife that our granddaughters should not stay with us.
“Now, after hearing about (the) Ghaziabad (incident), I am convinced he has been deceiving us.
“He should be arrested so that he can’t play with the emotions of other families.”
Kapil Dev Sharma alleged that before leaving for Delhi, the man took thousands from his employer and a local NGO by narrating a fake take of his hardship.
Police are currently investigating the man, who they confirmed to be the same person.
He was detained by police on Saturday, according to reports.
