A 19-year-old student, who had come to Calcutta from Chittaranjan to attend a counselling session for a seat in an engineering college, went missing on Thursday afternoon.

Police said Sayantan Dutta, who had qualified in Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) 2006, was called for counselling at Asutosh Birth Centenary Hall at Indian Museum for stream selection and seat allotment. They added that Sayantan might have fled as he was depressed over the stream he got in the engineering college.

Sayantan and his father Swapan Dutta, an employee of Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, arrived in the city on Thursday morning and went for the counselling session around 1 pm.

Soon after the session was over, he went missing.

'His father had been verifying details about the college in which Sayantan had been given a seat. Suddenly, he realised that Sayantan was not around. After searching for him for more than 30 minutes, he informed us,' said an officer in New Market police station.

The father even called up home on Thursday night, but Sayantan had not returned there, either, according to police.

Ajay Ranade, deputy commissioner (central division), said: 'Sayantan was upset about his entrance result. And he was further depressed over the stream he was assigned in the engineering college on Thursday. This might have prompted him to take this step. The search is on, we have alerted all police stations.'