A 29-year-old woman who vanished under mysterious circumstances while traveling back from the Kedarnath Yatra has been located safe in Bihar’s Begusarai district after being missing for nearly six days, marking a significant breakthrough in a case that had perplexed both police and railway officials.
After an extensive search operation conducted by the Uttarakhand Police, Railway Police, and several investigative agencies, Pragya Singh was located and taken into police custody. Her family has been notified of her recovery.
However, the central mystery of the case remains unresolved: how she disappeared from the train and under what circumstances she ended up in Bihar.
When Did Pragya Disappear From Train?
As reported by Navbharat Times, citing officials, Pragya was travelling with her husband Manish on the Nanda Devi Express from Dehradun to Ghaziabad on the night of May 5, after they had completed the Kedarnath pilgrimage. Her husband said the couple spoke normally until the train crossed Haridwar, after which he fell asleep. When he woke up near Muzaffarnagar station, he found Pragya missing from her seat.
At first, he assumed she had gone to the restroom and waited for her to come back. When she failed to return, he searched the entire coach and the adjacent compartments but could not locate her. Her mobile phone was also found to be switched off.
The incident was promptly reported to the Railway Police, after which the investigation was handed over to the Roorkee Police. The case grew more complex when officers were unable to secure CCTV footage from the Roorkee and Muzaffarnagar railway stations. The family stated that the cameras at both locations were allegedly not operational at the time.
Police teams also carried out searches along railway tracks and nearby areas fearing possible foul play or an accident. Cops examined her call records, messages and WhatsApp chats, but found no suspicious clues.
Police Questioning Underway Over Sudden Disappearance Claims
After six days of investigation, the police received a tip-off about Pragya’s whereabouts in Begusarai. A police team subsequently travelled to Bihar and rescued her safely. Officials stated that she is now being interrogated, and her testimony will be key to establishing whether she left of her own accord, acted under duress, or if other factors were involved in her disappearance. Meanwhile, her family, who had been anxiously waiting in Roorkee for several days, expressed relief upon learning that she was safe.