Dubai, Nov 5 (IANS): A former Indian expatriate, who had returned to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on a tourist visa to look for a job, has been reported missing, according to his friends.

Chenoth Thuruthummal Ashik, 31, had reportedly gone out for a walk from his friends' apartment located in Dubai's Persia cluster area, Gulf News reported.

"I was at work at that time. Ashik told my other friend Ramees that he was just stepping out of the building for a walk," the missing person's friend and roommate Althaf C.A. told Gulf News on Wednesday.

"Then Ramees told Ashik to wait so that he could join him after taking his mask and wallet. But by the time he picked up those items and went down, Ashik had left the building and there was no sign of him," Althaf said.

He said Ashik did not carry his mobile, wallet, passport or any other belonging with him when he left.

"He had been staying indoors ever since he reached here on October 17. He was supposed to go to Abu Dhabi after completing the quarantine period. One of our friends had said he would help him with a job at his grocery store," Althaf told Gulf News.

Around two years ago, Ashik had lost his job as an assistant technician at an oil and gas company in Abu Dhabi where he had worked for four years.

He returned to India and was working as a receptionist at a hotel in Bengaluru. But he lost his job due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ashik's friends have reported the matter to the Indian Consulate in Dubai and the police.