New Delhi, Sept. 18 -- A wedding just weeks away, a newly finalised sherwani and a promise to return home after a meeting - that was the last known chapter in the life of 31-year-old Yuvraj Singh Manchanda, whose disappearance ended in an alleged murder and the discovery of his body in a Gurugram drain.
But for his family, the tragedy did not end with his death. Yuvraj's family allege that his body was recovered on September 10 by Gurugram Police, but they were not informed and that it was cremated four days later without their knowledge.
The family said they learnt about the recovery only during the investigation into his disappearance after approaching the Delhi Police.
Speaking to a reporter, Yuvraj's sister Karishma said the family had last spoken to him around 7.30 pm on September 6, when he told them that the woman he was going to meet would arrive in about 20 minutes and that he would call them after the meeting.
"He had gone to Lajpat with us for wedding shopping. His wedding was to happen in a month. After finalising his sherwani, he left, saying he had a meeting with a former woman colleague. He had also informed his fiancee and his boss about the meeting," she said.
He said he would call after the meeting. "After that, we only received messages," Karishma said.
According to her, Yuvraj initially messaged that he was fine, asked the family not to worry and said his phone might get switched off. Later, he said he would return on Saturday and subsequently changed the date to Thursday.
"Then my sister requested him to at least show his face. She asked why he was not calling or coming home. He never does this. We started getting panicked because he never does anything wrong," she said.
Yuvraj's disappearance was particularly alarming for the family because of his responsibilities at home. His father suffers from partial paralysis, and his mother also frequently remains unwell, according to the family.
"Since he was young, he had taken responsibility for his home," his childhood friend Rajat Jain said.
Jain said Yuvraj was known to his family since childhood and had attended his younger brother's wedding recently. The family waited for Yuvraj to return before approaching the police on September 11, five days after he went missing.
The Delhi Police investigation subsequently focused on his former colleague Anya Vats, with whom he had his last known phone conversation, and her husband Sanyam Sachdeva.
Police said Vats and Sachdeva allegedly confessed to killing Yuvraj and dumping his body in a Gurugram drain. His family questioned the handling and cremation of the unidentified body.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.