GUWAHATI, July 22 - Mystery continues to shroud the disappearance of a city youth, Pranjal Das (27), who has been missing after visiting a forest area on the bank of the Umtru river at Byrnihat in Meghalaya along with his three friends on July 19.
A case has been registered at the Byrnihat Police Outpost in this connection. A missing entry was earlier lodged at the Hatigaon Police Station here.
Police said that Pranjal, a resident of Bishnu Rabha Path of Hatigaon and a degree student of the KK Handiqui State Open University centre of Hiteswar Saikia Jr College, Sixmile, had gone to Umtru with three friends � David Rabha, Partha Pratim Bhattacharya and Bidyabanta Basumatary � on that fateful day and had been missing since.
It is suspected that Pranjal drowned in the river, but the circumstances that could have led to the incident are unclear. His friends are being interrogated and the police said that things would become clear after their interrogation. Pranjal�s friends maintain he went into the forest to urinate and never came back.
Police added that the youths also consumed liquor on the bank of the river on that day. Family sources said that the police later found Pranjal�s bike, a bag and a green-checked shirt on the bank of the Umtru river. His cell phone was found switched off.
