A newly married woman, Pragya Singh from Kanpur, who went missing under mysterious circumstances from the Dehradun-Ghaziabad Nanda Devi Express train while returning from Kedarnath Yatra, has been found safe in Bihar's Begusarai district. She disappeared from the train on the night of May 5, was traced to Begusarai after six days. The case had triggered a massive search operation involving police teams in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
According to Laksar SP (Rural) Shekhar Chandra Suyal, Pragya, during questioning, revealed that she had an argument with her husband, Manish, during the journey. The argument reportedly escalated, following which Pragya decided to leave the train while her husband was asleep.
Police said Pragya got off the train without informing anyone and boarded another train without a ticket. She later realised that the train was heading towards Bihar. After reaching Begusarai, she contacted her mother and informed her that she was safe. The police then traced her location and recovered her safely.
The incident took place while Pragya and her husband were returning to Ghaziabad on the Nanda Devi Express train after visiting Kedarnath temple. According to Manish, everything was normal until Haridwar station. He later woke up near Muzaffarnagar and found Pragya missing from her seat.
Manish searched the entire compartment and the washrooms, but could not find her. Her mobile phone was also switched off, after which a missing person complaint was registered at Roorkee police station.
The investigation faced several challenges as CCTV cameras at Roorkee and Muzaffarnagar railway stations were reportedly not functioning. This made it difficult for the police to determine whether Pragya had got off the train on her own or if any untoward incident had occurred. Police teams also carried out searches along railway tracks during the investigation.
After finding Pragya, the police handed her over to her family. She is currently at her home in Kanpur.