Mohammed Abdul Arfath who was found dead in Ohio earlier this week, said his family was hopeful that their son will be found alive but all they got is his body. He also expressed concern about the repayment of education loan worth ₹43 lakh the family had taken for Arfath's studies in the United States. “It was his dream to settle in the US.
He was happy when the ₹43 lakh education loan was sanctioned. He then got admission at Cleveland University," Saleem told Indian Express. “I gave him foreign currency worth ₹10 lakh when he (Arfath) left for the US in May 2023 to pursue Masters in Information Technology.
He did not have to be worried about finances. He was a very clean person. He didn't have any bad habit.
We were surprised when we got to know that he had been kidnapped and received a ransom call from a drug-related gang," his father said. Arfath's family had no clue how he got into the trouble in the US, his father said, adding that the family is only dependent on news reports about the incident. Saleem, on March 17, received a phone call from an unidentified person in the US who claimed that Arfath had been abducted and demanded ransom of $1,200 to release him.
The kidnappers threatened Arfath's father that they will sell his son's kidneys if he will not pay the amount immediately. However, earlier this week, the central government informed Arfath's family that his body has been retrieved from Lake Erie near Cleveland. Mohammed Abdul Arfath hailed from Nacharam, Hyderabad.
He had done B.Tech in Computer Science from TKR College of Engineering and Technology at LB Nagar. On March 7, Arfath last conversation with his father and his mobile phone had gon switched off since then. His roommates then lodged a missing
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