Bengaluru anthropologist found: CCTV footage helped track Atreyee Majumdar to a local five-star hotel, says police

Bengaluru: The Marathahalli Police on Wednesday traced Atreyee Majumdar, an anthropologist who went missing on 4 April, to Hotel Taj Vivanta on MG Road in Bengaluru. [caption id=“attachment_4427855” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Atreyee Majumdar. News18[/caption]

“The hotel staff informed the local police station (Halasuru) about Atreyee Majumdar, who in turn, informed us. We reached Hotel Taj Vivanta at 11 am and took her to hospital for medical check up,’’ said Marathahalli police inspector Sadiq Pasha. The police have not yet pieced together information on how she ended up the Vivanta.

Majumdar, 35, a resident of Bellandur in Bengaluru, had been missing for a week, prompting colleagues and friends to form search parties. She became untraceable on 4 April, the day she arrived in the city from Toronto, where she is pursuing a post-doctoral fellowship. “She stayed at Novotel Hotel on 4 April and her last known location was obtained from CCTV footage that showed her checking out of the Marriot Hotel on 6 April. She was alone,” Pasha said Her parents Biplab Majumdar and Paramati Majumdar were “happy to know” that their daughter was found safe. “I cannot say much now. I am happy to have found my daughter,’’ said Biplab. According to her parents, Majumdar went incommunicado in Toronto and did not respond to their calls until 3 April, but she informed them on 4 April that she’d landed in New Delhi. She flew to Bengaluru the same day. Her father received her at the airport and brought her home around 4.30 pm. Majumdar left the house at 9 pm, and her parents said they did not know where she went. “I am very happy. My daughter is fine,’’ her mother Paramati told Firstpost. The police could not reach Majumdar on social media as she’d not carried her phone. The police had distributed pamphlets with her photo, informed hospitals, paying guest (PG) accommodations and hotels and asked them to inform Majumdar’s parents if they spot her. Majumdar is an alumna of National Law School in Bengaluru and Yale University. She was in Toronto pursuing a post-doctoral research with a fellowship from the Andrew W Mellon Foundation. Y Maheshwara Reddy is a Bengaluru-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article quoted police inspector Sadiq Pasha’s assessment of Majumdar’s health condition. That portion of the piece has been edited out as Pasha is not qualified to offer his opinion about aspects related to medicine.