'He is old. He has Alzheimer's and it's so hot outside': A grandson's desperate search for his missing grandfather

Hyderabad: Narshima Rao headed out early on Saturday wearing light pink shirt and dark grey trousers. He did not inform his family where he was going. He usually didn't. An Alzheimer's patient, he often wandered around his house. He was last spotted at Suchitra on the CCTV cameras. This was the last time Narshima Rao was spotted in a state with more than nine lakh CCTV cameras (Hyderabad alone has 7 lakh CCTV cameras).

It has been four days since the 84-year-old went missing and the police still haven't found him.

A few hours after Narshima Rao left his house, a stranger found him confused on the road and took him to the Alwal police station at around 8:30 a.m, nearly three hours before his family filed a missing person report. Narshima Rao told the police that he is from Nalgonda and asked them for directions. The police directed him towards the Jubilee bus stand.

At around 11:30 a.m, after making several calls, Narshima Rao's grandson Pranay filed a missing person report at the Alwal police station.

"My grandfather has Alzheimer's and so he often thinks that he still lives in Nalgonda which is his hometown. But the police should have checked his Aadhar card which is always in his shirt pocket or at least made an attempt to verify where he lives," said Pranay.

He added, "The address listed in his Aadhar card is the address where he resides at Alwal, Hyderabad. Had the police made an attempt to make sure that he reached home safely, today my grandfather would have been home."

Pranay is worried. "He is old. He has Alzheimer's and it's so hot outside. It has been so many days we don't know if has had a decent meal," he said.

This is not the first time Narshima Rao has gone missing. But he has never gone missing for more than a few hours. "Many times, strangers would check his Aadhar card and bring him home. If strangers could do it, then why didn't the police do the same?" Pranay questioned.

"Even if he is from Nalgonda, should the police not take responsibility to ensure a senior citizen reaches safely or at least ensured that he got on the bus? Now, we don't even know if he took a bus or not. We don't even know if he is in Hyderabad," Pranay said.

Pranay has been circulating his grandfather's picture on social media and everywhere else. So far, the family has had no luck.

Vinod Kumar, the head constable at the Alwal police station, said they are working on finding the missing man. "When Narshima Rao came here, he confidently told us that he is from Nalgonda. We thought he was confused about the routes since he was not from the city. We were not aware that he is an Alzheimer's patient. We spoke to the other person who brought him to the police station and he told us that he'd take him to the bus stand," Vinod sai

He added, "We told him the directions just like how anyone would commonly tell directions to any stranger if they ask."

The Alwal police said Narshima Rao was spotted on CCTV near Suchitra.

CCTVs in Hyderabad

A week ago, Telangana DGP Mahender Reddy said the Telangana police are spearheading the use of the latest technology in India for NexGen policing. "Hyderabad has to be safe and secure if Telangana has to be safe. We are proud to say that Telangana police are adopting the new and latest technology to be prepared for NexGen policing. We have a friendly proactive government that has law and order in the state as its priority. In fact, we still remember the day when Telangana was formed in 2014. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao called a meeting of the police department and guided us to ensure the safety of every citizen irrespective of their origin, caste, and creed. He said the state cannot prosper without proper enforcement of law and order," he said.

He added that Telangana has the best surveillance system in the country with more than nine lakh CCTV cameras (7 lakh in Hyderabad alone) installed in the state. "We use the latest technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI), virtual reality, and data analytics and have solved sensational cases within 24 hours. We learned and imbibed the latest technology from industry partners. Industry in Telangana has been our greatest collaborator in teaching things," the DGP said.