Patna, Nov. 28: Eight days after 16-year-old Saurabh Kumar mysteriously disappeared from his road number 29 residence in Gardanibagh, police today said the youth had left home because of a “family problem”.

Saurabh’s family members had, however, got a ransom call the day after Saurabh disappeared.

Gardanibagh police station house officer Dinesh Singh today said the boy might have left home on his own because of a feud in the family.

“The boy could have left because of a problem in the family. It seems clear at this moment. In the FIR lodged, it is said that the boy had gone out with one of his relatives,” Singh said.

Saurabh’s family members, however, countered the claim. His grandfather Dinesh Singh told The Telegraph: “We did not state in the FIR that the boy left with a relative. In the station diary we lodged, we clearly said that the boy had got a call from a friend. He was supposed to take a trip to Rajgir and left home. If the police think that any of the relatives is involved, we request them to arrest the suspects.”

He added: “The cops are just doctoring the whole thing. It is only after the director-general of police instructed them that an officer from the local police station came to my house and the station diary was changed into an FIR.”

Saurabh’s father Rajesh Kumar, who works at a petrol station at Harnaut in Nalanda district, told The Telegraph that the police was “playing games”.

“Ever since we went to the police station, the officer has been saying the same thing. But they are still to recover my son,” he said.

Senior police officers agreed with the family though.

Patna city west superintendent of police Upendra Sharma told The Telegraph that investigations were on.

“We are treating the case as a kidnapping for ransom. We are very serious about it and the boy will be recovered very soon,” he added.