Madhya Pradesh woman boarded train with rakhi and gifts but only her bag arrived — massive search underway for 29-year-old

Indian Express

11 hours ago

Coach B3, berth number 3 — the reservation was confirmed and the passenger had boarded. But when the Narmada Express pulled into Katni South station in Madhya Pradesh on August 6, only her bag remained, containing a rakhi, a handkerchief, and gifts for children.
The woman who had carefully packed these Rakshabandhan staples was nowhere to be found.
The disappearance of 29-year-old Archana Tiwari has sparked a multi-state search and raised questions about what happened during what should have been a routine 12-hour journey home.
As search teams scour railway networks across central India, nearly two weeks after her disappearance, her family is demanding a CBI probe.
Archana is a lawyer practising at the Madhya Pradesh High Court's Indore bench. She is also preparing for civil judge examinations and was living in a hostel in Indore.
Her brother Abhishek said, 'She was working hard to become a judge. We were expecting to see her on Rakshabandhan. Then she just vanished.'
On the morning of August 5, two days before Rakshabandhan, Archana left her Indore hostel with her bag packed with festival gifts and boarded the Narmada Express.
At 10.16 pm that night, Archana called her aunt and said she had reached near Bhopal. This would be her last known communication.
When the train pulled into Katni South railway station the next morning, her family stood waiting on the platform. But Archana did not come out.
Her last digital trace was a cell tower ping near the Narmada Railway Bridge in Narmadapuram district, a location that has since become the epicentre of search operations.
The investigation has mobilised law enforcement teams across multiple districts. GRP Superintendent Rahul Kumar Lodha said that Archana's last verified location was Itarsi railway station, where witnesses reported seeing her on the train. But what happened between that sighting and her family's arrival at Katni remains a mystery.
'She went missing on the day hundreds of people came to attend a local religious programme. We have multiple witnesses who have seen her. We think that she must have left on her own in such a situation. Common sense says she must not have been kidnapped from such a crowded place,' Lodha told The Indian Express.
The search for Archana has become a coordinated effort spanning multiple states. Police teams have scoured areas from Rani Kamalapati railway station to Itarsi and Katni, analysing CCTV footage from stations and surrounding areas. An all-India search order has been issued to station house officers and superintendents of police across the country.
The Home Guard and State Disaster Response Force teams have been deployed to search the Narmada River, near where her phone was last traced. Katni Youth Congress president Divyanshu has announced a cash reward of Rs 51,000 for any information about Archana's whereabouts.
Railway stations, bus depots, and travel agencies across the region have also been alerted. 'Every lead, no matter how tenuous, is being pursued with the urgency that missing person cases demand,' said a senior police officer.