Businessman missing in Mozambique: No clear leads, police probe business & land deals

“We don’t know much about Kothari. We don’t think this has anything to do with a real estate deal. We have a dairy business and Pramod was also engaged in the jewellery trade. With Mozambique being famous for rubies and other precious stones, there is a possibility that his visits could be in connection with the purchase of raw material, but we don’t want to speculate on anything,” Vinod Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director, DB Realty, told The Indian Express. “The Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian High Commission and the local police are probing the case. We have extended our full cooperation and we have full faith in them,” he added. Vinod was recently acquitted by a special CBI court in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

On February 19, Pramod’s son, Yash, submitted an application to the Juhu police station in Mumbai’s western suburbs, saying his father had travelled to Mozambique’s capital Maputo on February 17. That evening, several photographs of Pramod were sent from his phone to his family. Since then, there has been no communication from him. Police found CCTV footage of Pramod entering the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) and the case has now been transferred to the Sahar Police station.

According to the Registrar of Companies, Mumbai, in December 2015, Pramod was appointed as a director with Schreiber Dynamix Dairies Ltd, a private company incorporated on May 11, 1992.

“Based on the son’s complaint, we combed the CCTV footage and found that Pramod took a flight to Maputo on February 17. As the international airport falls under the jurisdiction of the Sahar Police, the missing complaint is now being probed by them. But the actual investigation is being conducted by the local police in Mozambique,” said another senior official. “Statements of the family members have been recorded. WhatsApp and Call Detail Records (CDRs) of the people connected to the case are being studied by the Mumbai Police,” added the official.

So far, the family has neither received a ransom call nor any withdrawal has been made from Pramod’s bank accounts known to them. “It has been nearly six weeks since Pramod went missing and the family hasn’t received any ransom call. The last communication that the family members had with Pramod was when they received a few WhatsApp messages of his photographs sent through his number,” said a relative who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Pramod used to live alone and kept to himself. The motive behind him going missing is not yet clear,” added the relative.

Rudra Gaurav Shresth, India’s High Commissioner to Mozambique, told The Indian Express , “The local authorities in Mozambique are investigating the case and we are in touch with them.” Shresth refused to say if the missing complaint is being treated as a kidnapping case, adding, “We cannot discuss operational details with the press.”