According to Odditycentral.com, on July 24, Manish Mishra from India called his wife to say that he had tested positive for Covid-19 and that he didn’t want to live anymore. He then proceeded to shut off his phone, leaving his family in a state of fear and panic. 

“My coronavirus test report has come out to be positive, I can’t live anymore,” Manish reportedly told his wife during his last phone call while weeping.

Unfortunately for Manish but fortunately for his wife, she called her brother for help and he advised her to file a missing person report with the Navi Mumbai police, and she did.

Police launched an investigation into the matter only to find out that the 28-year-old supervisor had actually used the dreaded illness as a cover-up for his infidelity.

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Police checked all the labs near his last known location, and none had tested anyone by the name Manish Mishra. They then checked in with his employer, a logistics company, and learned that he had recently been fired because of his involvement in a fraud attempt. Finally, they talked to some of his friends, and learned that he had been having an affair, Odditycentral.com reported.

“We sent a team to his last known location, where we got his motorcycle and key, his backpack that he carried to work, and his helmet,” a police officer told Indian Express. “We even checked the Vashi creek with the help of local fishermen, but could not find his body. We were certain that he was alive and so we kept looking.”

Sanjeev Dhumal, senior inspector of Vashi police is quoted as saying: “Based on the last cell phone location in Airoli, we scanned all CCTV camera footage from the area and found him getting into a car. A team tracked its owner to Ratnagiri. Meanwhile, we were also constantly questioning his friends and family. We came to know that he was having an extramarital affair. With the help of information provided by friends, we tracked him in Bhawarkua, Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

“Mishra was fired from work as he had indulged in a financial fraud recently. He had been having an affair for a couple of years and wanted to get rid of his wife and daughter. Which is why he plotted his illness and suicide,” Sanjeev Dhumal disclosed.

Although he thought his family had forgotten about him while he was spending time with his illicit lover in the city of Indore, police nabbed him on September 15, took him back to Navi Mumbai and reunited him with his family.