Bengaluru: A 68-year-old Israeli went missing for four hours from his son's home in the city, sending Ashok Nagar cops into a tizzy on Saturday as pressure mounted from the man's family and the Israeli consulate to trace him.
Aaron L. Rivkin was staying with his son David in Richmond Town, an Israeli 'Rabbi' (religious leader/preacher) in Bengaluru. On Saturday morning at around 9.00 am, the elder Rivkin, who tends to be absent-minded and forgetful, walked out of his son's home without telling anyone where he was going. The family panicked as he was not familiar with the neighbourhood, didn't know the home address or the telephone number. They searched the streets but with no results, and finally turned to Ashok Nagar police for help, where they lodged a missing persons complaint.
“As it involved an Israeli national and the family members' were afraid he could have been kidnapped, the message was flashed across all the walkie-talkies of the cops in the city. Several teams were formed and senior police officials including DCPs of all divisions were instructed to monitor the search operation by the police," said a senior police officer. Around 1.00 in the afternoon, Aaron Rivkin was spotted at Johnson Market by the cops who re-united him with his family members.
"Our men were on their toes from 9.00 until 1.00 until we finally traced Mr. Rivkin. It was taking on the proportions of a diplomatic crisis! Israeli consulate officials and many Israeli citizens use to visit Rivkin's house in Richmond Town for religious services, and his father going missing was a big issue," said a senior police officer.
