Indian Bureau of Mines officer returns home, mystery mounts

BHUBANESWAR: Mystery shrouded his missing, and homecoming too. After remaining incommunicado for over four months, Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) officer Ibrahim Sharief was back home here on Friday, safe and sound.
Sharief, who was quizzed by city police soon after reaching his house at Patia, kept mum. Police ruled out abduction, but refused to divulge details.However, they suspected it to be fallout of family dispute.
Commissioner of police R P Sharma said, "As of now, we cannot disclose why he went into hiding. We have videographed his statements."
Sharief's family members, who heaved a sigh of relief after his arrival, too remained tightlipped. "We are happy he returned home safe. I don't know why he left home and where was he all these days," said his wife Salma Parveen.
Police said Sharief returned to city from Dehradun by train. The assistant controller of mines vanished without a trace on November 25 last year. Subsequently, police tracked him to Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Uttarakhand. Cops visited UP in December, but failed to locate him.
On March 23, Sharief called up his father, who stays in Karnataka, and expressed his willingness to return home. His father-in-law and brother-in-law went to Dehradun and brought him to Bhubaneswar. "We came to know about his return on Friday," Sharma said.
On February 19, the state government had recommended CBI probe to locate Sharief after his family expressed displeasure over probe by city police. However, CBI did not take up the case.