By Joy Bergmann

On Saturday evening around 8:00 p.m., Suryanarayan “Suri” Hegde, 78, left his apartment at 320 W. 83rd Street, telling his family he was, “going to Zabar’s.” He wore a black hat, black jacket and dark pants. He has yet to return home, NYPD officials said.

Hegde, an adjunct professor at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, suffers from dementia, NYPD said. His family told police he can become confused if he ventures far from Broadway.

Police are asking for the public’s help in locating Hegde, describing him as Indian, 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing about 110 pounds.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, or on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls are strictly confidential.