7 years on, no trace of missing female engineer in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: The renewed debate on the protection of women, police probe and a tardy judiciary in the country following the rape-murder of veterinarian Disha has brought back the memories of a young engineer who went missing in Visakhapatnam seven years ago.

Sadhana Pandey, daughter of a former Naval officer, remains untraced to this date. The case has been shut for lack of evidence, according to the police.

The 26-year-old woman did her BTech in Vizag in 2012 when her father Harischandra Pandey was posted in the Eastern Naval Command. Later, she joined a private construction company as a civil engineer.

Sadhana's father moved to Mumbai the same year, but she stayed back to pursue her career. She put herself up at a hostel in Seethammdhara. On September 24, Sadhana informed her company that her father had met with an accident in Mumbai and she had to rush home.

However, Sadhana never reached Mumbai.

The hostel informed Harischandra about Sadhana's plan to visit Mumbai. After a long search, the father filed a missing complaint at Dwaraka Zone police station in February 2013.

Following pressure from the Defence Department, the police launched a frantic search but didn't make any headway. Once Harichandra left for Mumbai and began working for a private company, the police quietly shelved their search.

A senior police officer said that a suspect, Rambhir Singh, underwent a lie-detector test but nothing came of it. The man later sought (can we say got) relief from the High Court.