‘Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.’ Actor Vishal Thakkar Missing For 3 Years, Police Says ‘No Trace Yet’

Ever since its release in 2003, ‘Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.’ has been talked about and referenced to in various mediums in India. It’s a cult classic that has touched many hearts with its soulful music, varied characters and social message.

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However, now the movie’s image is beginning to lose its sheen because of the off-screen issues that are coming to the forefront. First is the disturbing allegations of sexual harassment that have been labelled against director Rajkumar Hirani. And second is the mysterious disappearance of one of the movie’s actors, Vishal Thakkar.

Vishal Thakkar had a small role as a suicidal young lover in ‘Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.’, which brought him to the limelight. However, after appearing in movies like ‘Tango Charlie’ and the TV show ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chashma’, according to Indian Express, he has been missing since 2015.

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On December 31st, 2015, Thakkar asked his mother Durga to go and watch ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ with him. But she refused, and regrets doing so because that was the last time she saw her son.

At 10.30 p.m., Thakkar borrowed Rs. 500 from his mother and left. At 1 a.m. he texted his father Mahendra that he’s going to a party and he’d return the next day. However, he never came back. His mother says,

“I have no clue what happened to my son.”

It has been three years, but the case has witnessed no progress.

The police said that he was last spotted by his girlfriend on Ghodbunder Road at 11.45 a.m. on January 1st, hailing an autorickshaw to Andheri for a shoot. His last Facebook post read ‘Happy New Year’ and was posted at 12.10 p.m. But soon after that his phone was found switched off.

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None of the hospitals reported of an unidentified man matching Thakkar. There were no records of a ransom call. There has been no activity on his bank account. And his phone was never found switched on again.

Former investigation officer Mahendra Puri, who had filed the missing complaint at the Mulund police station, said,

“Initially, we suspected the girlfriend. But her statement had no discrepancies.”

Considering how Vishal was last spotted at Ghodbunder Road, the case was transferred to Kasarvadavli police. But even they were clueless about the whole situation. Inspector N.A. Kulkarni said,

“We don’t know if it’s a murder, or a kidnapping, or he has run away.”

Every bit of info after Thakkar went missing led nowhere. But his family believed that it was the complaint of rape and assault charged against him in October 2015 by his then girlfriend, that might’ve been the reason for his disappearance. Thakkar’s mother said,

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“She frequented our house. One day they were together and the next day, she landed at my door with police. It was a minor fight. Later, the two of them resolved it.”

Apparently the actor had even withdrawn her complaint. And shockingly enough, she was found dead in her Kandivali flat eight months ago, possibly due to a heart attack.

Durga, Thakkar’s mother said,

“He was a mumma’s boy. He could not bear the insult we faced.”

The police said that after the complaint, Thakkar’s acting career took a major hit and sent him into depression.

As of now, constable Rajesh Pandey (the person who’s looking after Thakkar’s case) has posted the actor’s photo on a pan-India network of railway officers, hospitals and police officers probing missing persons cases. But according to Pandey the final result is: “No trace yet”.

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