Chennai: The chief executive officer (CEO) of a multinational company, suspected to be missing since Tuesday afternoon, was arrested by the narcotics control bureau (NCB) for possessing cocaine on Tuesday afternoon. Sanjiv Bhatnagar (50), CEO of Jouve India, was arrested based on a tip-off while he was taking delivery of a courier parcel at SMPK cargo & courier services on Wall Tax road around 3 pm. Sanjiv was intercepted by NCB personnel along with his driver P. Tulasi.
On Wednesday, high drama prevailed as his colleagues and the family of the executive approached the city police with a missing complaint. Sanjiv, who left his office in Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) on Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Taramani, around 1.30 pm with his driver, did not return, either to his office or home, after which they approached the Taramani police.
Eventually, it was found that the executive and the driver were in NCB custody. “NCB personnel found him to be in possession of 3.88 grams of cocaine worth about Rs20,000 in the local market,” according to an NCB official. His Bengaluru supplier sent him the stuff through the same courier services at regular intervals for the past one year, said Prem Anand Sinha, NCB zonal director.
Long wait for word on missing man
From accidents to kidnap to way-laying, all possibilities were pondered over as two families had a long wait at the Taramani police station on Wednesday. For 39-year-old Akilandeshwari, her husband going missing in a new city, was terrifying. The couple moved into the city only about a year ago and were staying at Besant Nagar.
On Tuesday, her husband Sanjiv Bhatnagar had texted her in the morning saying that he would be going out for a couple of hours in the afternoon and would send the car after that. "Only when he failed to come home even after 7 pm, I started making calls to his phone," she said. While her husband's mobile was switched off, the driver's phone went unanswered for a long time after which she panicked and approached the Tiruvanimyur police with a complaint on Wednesday morning.
She was directed to the Taramani police station where eventually the drama unfolded. Members from the driver's family were also present at the police station with suspicion looming large around the driver's role in the MNC CEO going missing. “People from the office knocked on our doors on Tuesday night and asked for Tulasi. When we said he didn't return from work, they passed comments that he would be hiding inside. We didn't understand then. Tulasi is a righteous man and is not one to indulge in any misdeeds,” said a tenant at Tulasi's house in Sriram Nagar, Taramani.
