The family of a man who has been missing for a month are appealing for help to find him after he was last seen being forced into a car in east London.

Aron Kato, 28, from Newham, east London, was seen being pushed into a BMW in Ley Street, Ilford, shortly after 4.30am on April 18.

The Metropolitan Police have released CCTV footage of the father-of-one being chased and pushed to the ground by an unidentified man.

His family pleaded with anyone with information to come forward.

Mr Kato’s twin sister Sharon said: “The way they dragged him and they took him, no human being should do something like that.”

He had been out socialising with friends and drinking alcohol, and appeared “vulnerable” on CCTV footage from the night he disappeared, she said.

Ms Kato went on: “We feel lost. You know you want something so bad but you can’t find it. You dream about it, wanting it, but you just don’t know where it is.

“All the family, our life has been put on pause. Every Sunday as a family we get together, but even now when we get together it’s like one head is missing.

“He was taken in the car, we know where he was taken from, but we don’t know where he is. We don’t know what they’re doing to him, we don’t know if he’s eating, drinking.

“He is very, very loved. We love him so much and we just want him home. We just want him to come to his family, we need him. We’re just lost.”

Aron Kato
Aron Kato (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Mr Kato, who has a three-month-old son with his partner Chanel Naidoo, has not made contact with his friends or family since he was last seen.

Appealing for help to find him, Ms Naidoo said Mr Kato’s family were praying for his safe return and would “never give up on him”.

“Anyone that knows Aron knows that he is the most bubbly, happy, genuine family man who would do anything to help anyone and he would always go out of his way to make sure we were all looked after,” she said.

“He would never let anyone down and was always there for all of us and we will never let him down.”

Scotland Yard said officers were very concerned for Mr Kato’s welfare, with the search to find him being led by detectives from the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command.

The case is being treated as a missing person investigation.

Seven men, aged 25 to 39, who were arrested on suspicion of kidnap have been released under investigation, police said.

Detective Chief Inspector Mick Norman said: “Aron had recently become a father and his disappearance is very much out of character.

“There has been no sighting of Aron for a month and, as you can imagine, his family are becoming increasingly concerned for his safety.”

Mr Norman said Mr Kato was last seen being forced into an as yet unrecovered dark-coloured BMW hatchback with the number plate RF12 0ZA, and appealed for anyone with information about the car’s whereabouts or its occupants to contact police immediately.

Ms Naidoo said that before his disappearance Mr Kato had gone out with his son and niece to go bowling and visit a park as he “loved taking the kids out”.

She added: “That evening he left us to go out with his friends, he called me at midnight and told me he loved us and he was going home.

“But the next morning I knew something was wrong when his phone was going to voicemail and he never came home and his family hadn’t seen him either.

“We are all so worried and we just want him home.

“We miss and love him so much, Aron is the kindest and most caring person and he is the best partner, father, son, brother and uncle and we need him home back with us where he should be.”

Ms Naidoo said Mr Kato would “spend every day” with his 15-week-old son and was “the proudest father”.

She added: “For us to find ourselves in this situation we can’t even describe what we are going through as a family right now.

“No-one deserves this and Aron needs to be found. It’s been too long without him.”

Ms Naidoo said Mr Kato’s family would “always be here for him especially when he needs us the most at a time like this”.

“We will never give up on him,” she added. “We just need him home and we pray that he is safe and returns back to us.

“We love him so much. Please help us to find Aron. We all need our Aron back.”