Raj Kumar Seksaria: Money matters

Timber trader Raj Kumar Seksaria was traced to Ranchi on Sunday, almost a week after he went missing.

A police team, accompanied by Raj?s brother Sajan and other relatives, has left for Ranchi to bring back the Salt Lake resident.

According to Sandip Saraf, a nephew of the businessman, a ?relative? had called the Seksarias around 11 am and said Raj had been staying with him. Raj, the caller said, was depressed and had left home as he was in a financial crisis.

However, neither Saraf nor any of the two daughters of the businessman could name the relative. Saraf also had no clue why Raj himself did not come on the phone.

?I don?t know who he was. Raj has many relatives across the country. The call was taken by Sajan,? Saraf said.

?The entire matter will be clear once we hear from our team that has gone to Ranchi. It is not a case of kidnapping for ransom,? said Praveen Kumar, superintendent of North 24-Parganas police.

An officer of Bidhannagar (East) police station, where a missing diary was lodged on Tuesday morning, said the trader owed a huge sum of money to several people. ?Maybe he was unable to pay back and left home to evade the creditors,? he added.

Raj left his rented DL-181 apartment on Monday afternoon, telling wife Ritu that he would visit one of his clients in Topsia, who owed him Rs 30,000.

The family waited for him till 11 pm before launching a search. After the night-long operation proved futile, police were informed.

?In the past week, whenever we heard of any unclaimed body, we rushed across to see it,? said Saraf.

?We are relieved that he is safe,? said Richa, Raj?s elder daughter. ?We could not sleep for the past week. My mother fell ill. She was praying almost throughout the day.? The phone call has brought relief to Raj?s wife, but she is still in a state of shock, Richa said.