For nearly 10 years, Shyam Singh’s family in Uttar Pradesh did not know where he was. They had searched for him after he went missing from home, but there was no clue that could lead them to him. Over the years, the search eventually seemed to have reached a dead end.According to the Indian Express and various media, Singh, who was from Farrukhabad had been living a very different life during those years. He was spotted repeatedly by locals in the Tarikhet and Majkhali areas of Almora district in Uttarakhand. People knew his face and had seen him wandering around, but nobody knew his name, where he had come from or where his family lived.The breakthrough came from an unlikely source: a diary and a single word.
Police could not get him to reveal his identity
Sub-Inspector Vinod Fartyal, who had recently taken charge of the Majkhali police outpost near Ranikhet, had noticed Singh in the area. The officer tried speaking to him and asking basic questions about his home, relatives and past.But the conversations did not lead anywhere. Singh was in poor physical and mental condition and was unable to communicate where he belonged or how long he had been in the area. Repeated attempts to get information from him failed.Then, SI Fartyal tried a different approach. The officer handed Singh a pen and a diary and asked him to write down anything he could remember about himself or his past. Singh wrote just one word: “Rajepur.”That was enough for the police to begin another search.
The word pointed police towards Uttar Pradesh
Shyam Singh wrote ‘Rajepur,’ in the diary.
The police connected the word to Rajepur in Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh. The Majkhali police then contacted the Rajepur police station and shared Singh’s photograph along with the information they had gathered.After inquiries, police identified the man as Shyam Singh, a resident of Rajepur Rathoudi village in Farrukhabad. According to reports, it took around four days of inquiries to establish his identity and trace his family.For Singh’s family, the discovery came after years of uncertainty. His relatives told police that Singh had left home around a decade earlier while struggling with mental illness. They had searched extensively for him but had been unable to find him. Over time, the family had almost lost hope that they would ever know what had happened to him.Then, after 10 years, came a phone call from Uttarakhand Police. The family was told that Singh had been found.
Family travelled from UP to reunite with him
As soon as they received the news, Singh’s son and other relatives travelled from Uttar Pradesh to the Majkhali police outpost in Uttarakhand. The reunion marked the end of a decade-long search. Reports said the family was deeply emotional on finding him safe after nearly a decade and expressed gratitude to the Almora and Uttarakhand Police for helping bring him home.
