A 28-year-old Indian man’s solo vacation to Azerbaijan has turned into a nightmare. Manikanth Kondaveeti has been missing for over two weeks after leaving India on April 26.
The first indicator of problems, according to his relatives, was when Mr. Kondaveeti failed to answer the family’s WhatsApp messages on May 12 and thereafter.
Meanwhile, Dharan Kondaveeti, his brother, spoke to the Instagram page Humans Of Bombay about the struggle the family has been through over the last two weeks.
“The boy you see in the photo is my bhai, Manikanth, and he’s been missing for the past two weeks,” Dharan explains, sharing a series of photos of Manikanth. “I’ve been unable to eat or sleep… All I can think about is where he is.”
Dharan describes Manikanth as not only his brother but also his best friend when discussing their relationship. “He taught me how to play cricket and football, and he got me addicted to computer games,” he recalls. “Mom and dad would get upset when they saw us on our computer for hours.”
“Bhai’s a wanderer — I loved hearing about his exploits!” Dharan says of Manikanth’s trip to Azerbaijan. So I was ecstatic when bhai told me he was going on a solo vacation to Azerbaijan. He came to stay with me in Delhi the day before he left, and we had supper together. I left him off at the airport the next morning and told him, ‘Next time, I’ll come with you.’
Manikanth, who left India on April 26, planned to “spam” the family with photos and virtual tours. They talked every day until May 12, when things began to shift.
“We last chatted on the 12th of May at 7 p.m. Later, I sent him a message, but it was not delivered. “I consoled myself by thinking, ‘Perhaps he doesn’t have a network,'” he explains.
Attempts to contact Manikanth, however, were unsuccessful day after day.
“We tried contacting him the next day and the day after that, but received no response.” “I sensed something wasn’t right because bhai was always in touch,” Dharan adds.
Family contacts the Azerbaijan Embassy for assistance
After that, the family contacted the Indian embassy in Azerbaijan for assistance. “They (the embassy) speculated that he might be hiding in the hills.” They assumed he was on vacation and told us not to be concerned. “How could we not?” Dharan wonders. “Everyone in the embassy was contacted until one said, ‘We’ll send a search party.'”
Manikanth’s luggage was discovered at the hotel the next day. “We went into his Google account and got his location details for the 13th morning; he was in a cabin on the outskirts of town…that worried me,” Dharan says.
Moreover, Dharan has also asked the public to sign a petition to assist the family in their search for Manikanth.
He’s also asked anyone who knows anyone in Azerbaijan to assist him in finding his brother. At the end of the note, Dharan states, “We’ll be forever indebted to you.”
Also Read: 1 Arunachali Girl reached Bihar to find Facebook friend
