Timely police action could’ve saved his life, say Kamal’s kin

The family, based in Palam Colony, said delayed police response cost Kamal Dhyani his life. “The Internet was full of videos of how people were disappearing in Delhi, so when I could not reach my brother, I had all sorts of wrong thoughts,” said Karan, the deceased’s brother. As repeated calls went unanswered, the family first went to the call centre in Rohini, where he was employed. “We connected with his manager, who told us that he had left long ago. We kept calling, but nobody picked up the phone,” Mr. Karan Dhyani said.

They rushed to several police stations, six in all, starting from a little past midnight, and their search ended around 8 a.m., after the police confirmed that the body found in a pit near a school matched the description of Kamal. “We last spoke to Kamal on Thursday night at 11.53 p.m. He informed us that he would be home in another 10-15 minutes. When he did not return by that time, we got worried and started looking for him,” said Mr. Karan Dhyani, the deceased’s brother.

The family started by visiting the call centre in Rohini, where he was employed, followed by rounds to all the police stations in the district — Rohini, Vikaspuri, Janakpuri, Mangolpuri, Sagarpur and Palam.

Mr. Karan Dhyani alleged that officers at Vikaspuri and Sagarpur refused to file a missing person complaint. “At Vikaspuri, we were asked to return to the police station the next day to register the complaint. At Sagarpur, an officer told my father that he was not the only man looking for his missing son,” said his brother. He added that at the Vikaspuri police station, officers traced Kamal’s last call to a park and shared the location with the family. However, they were unable to trace him.

When reached for response, the police said, “The first priority is to find the person; legalities can be dealt with later. At Vikaspuri police station, the officers showed them that there was no medico-legal record or a reported case of accident and since Kamal made his last call from Janakpuri, the officers directed the family to go to the concerned police station.”