After a four-day search, Uma, the 66-year-old Bengaluru woman who went missing on Friday evening, was found on Tuesday. According to her family, Uma has had a cognitive disability since childhood.
Her family members, who accompanied police officials in the search, said that Uma was found walking towards Abbigere near Chikkabanavara (towards Tumakuru) around 3 pm. "It seems she has gone walking all the way there but she is in good health. She recognised our family members. It is a huge relief to know that she is safe and fine,” Janaki, a family member, told TNM.
Abbigere is 8.5 km away from Sanjaynagar in Bengaluru. Before she went missing, Uma was going to visit a hospital, which is a five-minute walk from her house in Sanjaynagar, along with her brother Neelakantan. He had asked Uma to walk ahead to the hospital and that he would follow her. However, by the time Neelakantan reached the hospital, Uma was missing.
Neelakantan's son Mani and daughter-in-law Janaki, who are both software engineers, organised a search party looking for Uma. A missing persons complaint was filed in Sanjaynagar police station.
According to CCTV footages obtained by RT Nagar police, the day she went missing, Uma was seen loitering around in Gangenahalli (Bengaluru South) and then walking towards Mekhri Circle. Around 8.50 pm, she was seen talking to a person on a two-wheeler and then got on to the vehicle. On Monday, Uma was spotted at a rice shop near Abbigere.
The police officials, who kept the family updated, spotted Uma crossing the road towards Geddalahalli on CCTV footage obtained from a shop nearby. Mani and Janaki also sought help from street vendors in Geddalahalli to track Uma, who, by then, had travelled further away from Bengaluru city.
Uma was given first-aid and food to eat as soon as she was found, Mani told TNM.