Mirzapur (Uttar Pradesh), Aug 23 (IANS): A senior consultant at the divisional hospital in Mirzapur district, Dr JP Tripathi, has been reported missing under mysterious circumstances, police said on Sunday.

Tripathi went missing on Saturday after he alighted from his car near the Bhatauli bridge on the Ganga river in the district.

Mirzapur Superintendent of Police Ajay Singh, who is monitoring the search operation, said that while an alert has been sounded across the district, teams of NDRF and divers had been asked to search in the Ganga river.

He said: "Tripathi, 55, left his home in Varanasi to go to the Mirzapur divisional hospital. When his car reached near the Bhatauli bridge, Tripathi asked his driver to stop the vehicle to relieve himself. However, when he did not return even after 15 minutes, the driver started searching for him and then called his wife Dr Sunanda, who is posted at the HB Cancer Hospital in Lehartara, and reported the matter. His son is also a medical practitioner."

The SP said that after Sunanda alerted the Mirzapur Police, efforts to search for him were launched.

Tripathi was earlier posted in Basti as Medical Officer but had joined the Mirzapur hospital in July.

Tripathi's driver told his family that he was upset over providing consultations to patients during Covid-19 pandemic as many suspected cases had come to him.