Kerala HC directs police to constitute SIT to trace missing Kochi resident

Kochi, Oct 25 ( IANS) The Kerala High Court on Saturday ordered the Commissioner of Police to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to locate Suraj Lama, who has been missing since October 5 after arriving in Kochi from Kuwait.

The Division Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice M.B. Snehalatha was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by his son, Santon Lama, seeking immediate action to trace his father.

During proceedings, the Bench orally assured that every effort would be made to trace the missing individual.

"Now we want to trace him out, we have to trace him out. Come what may, we have to trace him out… We want full details through the embassy now," the Bench remarked.

S. Krishna, appearing for the Directorate of Security and Government Investigation (DSGI), informed the Court that Suraj Lama may have been sent back to India on an emergency certificate, possibly due to a lost passport or other reasons for deportation, and sought a week to furnish full details.

The government pleader added that despite best efforts, Lama could not yet be traced.

Petitioner's counsel, Parvathi Menon, alleged that authorities were not acting with the urgency normally expected in such cases.

The Court refrained from making incriminatory remarks but emphasised that a special team under the Commissioner of Police, headed by an officer of Deputy Commissioner rank, should immediately take over the investigation.

The Court directed that all proceedings and updates be submitted during the next listing and stressed that "every effort must be on by the competent authorities to ensure that he is traced out".

According to the petition, Suraj Lama, a longtime hotelier in Kuwait, had gone missing after a period of no communication.

Lama's friends in Kuwait have informed his family that he had been hospitalised for alcohol poisoning and was suffering from partial memory loss and speech impairment.

He was subsequently transferred to a deportation centre, and a photograph of a flight ticket showing travel from Kuwait to Kochi on October 5 prompted the family to file a complaint at Nedumbassery Police Station.

Despite independent inquiries, media coverage, and intervention by the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KeLSA), Lama remained untraced.

--IANS

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