BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh has written to Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Vikram Misri, to help trace Saketh Sreenivasaiah (22) from Bengaluru, who went missing on February 10, 26, in Berkeley, California, US.
Saketh flew to the US in February 2025 to pursue an MS in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, after completing BTech in Chemical Engineering from IIT Madras.
Shalini Rajneesh sent the letter to Misri after Saketh’s father Sreenivasaiah wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on lack of information about their missing son from the police and mounting anxiety in the family. Sreenivasaiah told this paper, “Our son’s housemate, who studies with him at the University of California, complained at the Berkeley police station about Saketh going missing. We later tried to reach out to the police, but they have responded only twice. That is also because of the time difference between the two countries and the system that exists in the USA.”
He said, “We wrote to the chief minister, requesting help from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian embassy in the USA. Constant coordination will help us trace Saketh. We tried calling Saketh’s number, but the WhatsApp call only rings. There has been no response so far.”
Sreenivasaiah, who hopes to trace his missing son, said, “According to the housemate, my son left for college on February 10, but instead went to a nearby park. His bag and wallet were recovered from the park. He is a bright boy and flew to the US in February 2025 to pursue MS.”
In her letter to Misri, Shalini Rajneesh requested all necessary assistance, including coordination with local law enforcement agencies through the consul general of India in San Francisco to help the family.
The Consulate General of India in San Francisco posted on X, “Consulate General of India in San Francisco is deeply concerned about the disappearance of Saketh Sreenivasaiah, an Indian postgraduate student of UC Berkeley, hailing from the State of Karnataka. The Consulate is in touch with the family and also is in contact with the concerned local authorities to locate the student.”