The entire exercise, however, proved futile when the youth, Abhishek, called up his father on the latter’s cellphone from Pune late on Sunday.

Abhishek studies in Australia and had come to India on a vacation. On Saturday morning, he had left for Ahmedabad, reportedly for shopping.

Abhishek had called up at his residence around 6 pm and said he was “low on cellphone battery and therefore had a crisp talk”, said Ghatlodia police inspector, K S Savani.

When Abhishek did not return home on Saturday night and could not be reached on his mobile phone, jittery Patels came looking for their son to Ahmedabad.

They went to their residence at the Sola Road in Ghatlodia and became panicky after not finding Abhishek there.

They later intimated the Ghatlodia police about the incident.

While the police were looking for Abhishek, his Opel Corsa car was found at a public parking lot near the Rupalee Cinema in the Khanpur area.

City police personnel, including senior officers, went on their toes, exploring all the possibilities like kidnapping or a murder until Sunday evening, when Abhishek contacted his parents.