City man goes missing during Azerbaijan trip
MUMBAI: A 28-year-old travel enthusiast from Mumbai, Manikanth Kondaveeti, has gone missing during a solo trip to Azerbaijan. His family members said they haven’t heard from him since May 12.
According to his brother Dharan, Manikanth, who worked with Tech Mahindra as a French language expert, left Delhi for Azerbaijan via a connecting flight from Sharjah and reached Baku on April 26.
Dharan, a Peddar Road resident, said Manikanth had taken two bags with him for the solo trip -- a big rucksack and a small backpack -- and met several locals and a French traveller, Wei Ming, during his travel in Azerbaijan. Dharan added that on May 11, Manikanth stayed at a hotel in Zaqatla in north-western Azerbaijan and checked out the next morning, leaving his rucksack at the hotel.
Dharan said Manikanth had informed the hotel staff that someone will pick up the bag on his behalf and spent the rest of the day in the Zaqatla forest.
“He stayed with some locals overnight on 12th and left the place at 9 am on 13th. He asked the locals about some snowclad peaks visible from there,” said Dharan, adding that thereafter “no one has volunteered any information about him.” He added that the 28-year-old, who earlier travelled to Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Nepal, Madagascar, Rwanda and Kenya, had a flight to Uzbekistan on May 17, but did not show up for it.
Dharan said after realising that messages sent to Manikanth were not getting delivered to him since May 13, they got worried and contacted the Indian Embassy in Baku on May 15 and requested them to search for Manikanth. He said when Manikanth did not take his flight to Uzbekistan on May 17, the embassy stirred into action by informing the local police. However, the official search only started by May 19.
Meanwhile, Dharan has also started a social media campaign to gather support and reach the Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister seeking to carry out a search via using drones in Azerbaijan. The family has also contacted the Mumbai Police Commissioner for help in the search operation.