2018: A year of mystery disappearances and audacious assassinations

The past 12 months have seen mysterious disappearances and alleged assassinations, all attributed to some or the other world power

Journalist Jamal Khoshoggi (L) is suspected to have been killed inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey while Chinese actress Fan Bingbing (R) mysteriously disappeared for a few months (Photos: Reuters & AP)

An audacious murder carried out at a popular international airport. The 'Priyanka Chopra of China' going missing, not to be heard from for months. And, the head of an international organisation tasked with tracing missing persons disappearing himself.

These are not historical incidents from the Cold War. Nor do they form the premise of a John le Carre novel. These are events that took place in the past one year, events that made headlines across the world for their incredible and, often, fantastic nature.

The past 12 months have seen mysterious disappearances and alleged assassinations, all attributed to some or the other world power. The latest was the disappearance of Interpol president Meng Hongwei in late September.

Towards the end of September Meng travelled to China from France, where the headquarters of Interpol are located.

The last time he was heard from was on September 25, when he texted his wife: "Wait for my call." Four minutes later, Meng sent a knife emoji and was never heard from again.

Meng, a Chinese national, was officially reported missing on October 5 and this made headlines across the world. After all, even though Interpol does not have actual policing powers, it isn't everyday that a high-profile international official just goes missing.

It was a full three days before Chinese authorities said that they had detained Meng. Shortly after the announcement, Interpol said that Meng had resigned from his post as president of the organisation.

On October 8, China offered more clarity on Meng's status, saying that he was under investigation for corruption and other offences. The new statement also said that Meng had only himself to blame for the troubles he found himself in.

WHEN AN A-LIST STAR WENT MISSING

Meng Hongwei's disappearance in China may have attracted international attention but it was short and uneventful compared to what happened with Fan Binging, an A-list Chinese actress who remained missing for around three months.

First some context: Fan Bingbing has featured in films such as Iron Man 3 and X-Men: Days of Future Past. She has been associated with luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Mercedes-Benz and in 2017, was ranked on top of business magazine Forbes's China Celebrity List, with an annual estimated income of Rs 320 crore.

So when she went incommunicado in June this year, it made waves. As a journalist who has covered China for several years said on Twitter, Fan Bingbing going missing was like a Priyanka Chopra or a Katrina Kaif going missing back home.