Archive · 9 Aug 2026
Uttarakhand cop reunites mentally ill man missing for 10 years
A man who had been missing for a very long time was found and brought back to his family.
He was seen walking around the towns of Majkhali and Tarikhet in Uttarakhand for many years.
A police officer named Vinod Fartyal noticed him and took him to the police station.
The man could not tell the officer where he was from because he was mentally unwell.
The officer gave him a pen and a diary and asked him to write anything he remembered about his past.
The man wrote just one word, and that word helped the police find his family.
His family lives in another state called Uttar Pradesh.
After almost ten years, the man was finally reunited with his loved ones.
A mentally unwell elderly man missing for nearly 10 years was reunited with his family in Uttarakhand.
The man had been spotted wandering around Majkhali and Tarikhet in Uttarakhand's Almora district for several years.
Sub-Inspector Vinod Fartyal, officer in charge of the Majkhali police outpost in Ranikhet, brought the man to the outpost.
Repeated conversations with the man failed to yield clear information about his home or relatives.
The man wrote one word in a police diary when asked to record his memories, which led to his family being traced.
- Who
- Sub-Inspector Vinod Fartyal of the Majkhali police outpost and a mentally unwell elderly man who went missing from his home in Uttar Pradesh.
- What
- The man was reunited with his family after he wrote one word in a police diary that helped trace his relatives.
- When
- Nearly a decade after the man went missing; no specific dates were reported.
- Where
- Majkhali and Tarikhet in Uttarakhand's Almora district; the man's family is in Uttar Pradesh.
- Why
- The man, who was mentally unwell and unable to clearly answer questions, wrote the single word that enabled police to reunite him with his family.
- Missing period
- Nearly 10 years
- Went missing from
- Uttar Pradesh
- Found wandering in
- Majkhali and Tarikhet, Almora district, Uttarakhand
- Reuniting officer
- Sub-Inspector Vinod Fartyal
- Police outpost
- Majkhali police outpost, Ranikhet
- Key clue
- One word written in a police diary
- Outcome
- Man reunited with his family