Bhopal, Aug 20 The mysterious disappearance of Archana Tiwari, a civil judge aspirant and practising lawyer, has culminated in a dramatic recovery and a web of deception that stunned investigators.
Archana, according to police, was found late Tuesday night near the India-Nepal border in Lakhimpur Khiri, Uttar Pradesh, and flown back to Bhopal early Wednesday morning.
What began as a suspected accident on the Narmada Express train has now been revealed as a meticulously designed escape.
According to Railway Superintendent of Police Rahul Kumar Lodha, Archana had been “under intense pressure from her family to abandon her studies and marry a Patwari”.
Facing mounting proposals and emotional strain, she confided in Saransh, a friend from Indore, and together they devised a plan to vanish.
“Archana’s legal acumen played a central role in the execution. She deliberately left her bag on the train to simulate a fall, switched coaches at Narmadapuram -- where CCTV coverage was absent -- and instructed Tejinder, another accomplice, to dispose of her mobile phone in the forests of Bagratawa near Itarsi,” the officer said.
“However, Tejinder was picked up by Delhi Police in a separate fraud case during the period, making it difficult for the police to advance the investigation.
He is a driver by profession, while Saransh has his own drone startup.
”To further obscure her trail, she used WhatsApp calls. Saransh also purchased a new phone and a SIM card registered in Saransh’s father’s name, while Saransh left his own phone in Indore to create a false location and digital footprint. The duo’s route was calculated to avoid detection. They bypassed toll booths, purchased a new mobile mid-journey, and initially remained within Madhya Pradesh. But as media coverage intensified, they escalated their plan -- moving to Hyderabad, a lesser non-Hindi speaking area," said the officer.
“Then travelling via Jodhpur and Delhi to Kathmandu, Nepal. Saransh later returned to Indore, while Archana stayed hidden until police, after detaining Saransh, persuaded her to come to the border, where she was apprehended,” the officer said.
The case drew widespread attention after Archana’s bag -- containing Raksha Bandhan gifts -- was found abandoned at Umaria station.
Her last known communication was a call to her aunt on August 7, after which her phone went silent.
Police tracked her movements using mobile data and witness accounts, eventually locating her in Lakhimpur Khiri.
In a parallel thread, investigators discovered Archana had been in contact with Ram Tomar, a constable posted at Gwalior’s Bhanwarpura police station. He had booked a bus ticket for her from Indore to Gwalior, though she never used it.
The constable was detained on August 18 and was under interrogation.
Archana is now in Bhopal, where authorities are probing the motives behind her disappearance and the role of her accomplices.
The case has raised serious questions about the intersection of legal literacy, personal autonomy, and the limits of law enforcement surveillance.
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