Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the Director General of Police to submit all details related to the body recovered from a marshy area in Kalamassery here—suspected to be that of Suraj Lama, who has been missing since October 5 after arriving in Kochi from Kuwait. The court also instructed the Superintendent of the Medical College Hospital to provide all relevant records by Thursday (December 4). A Division Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice MB Snehalatha was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Lama’s son.

“We need complete details—how he was taken to the hospital, what happened there. We hope this is not his body, but we need a minute-by-minute account,” the Bench observed.

The court noted it must be informed how Lama—who is said to be cognitively impaired following an accident abroad—reached the Medical College, how he was treated, and how he was discharged.

The government informed the court that a body had been found in the HMT, Kalamassery marshland, and that postmortem, scientific analysis, and DNA tests are underway to confirm whether it is Lama’s.

Questioning the state of city surveillance, especially in the proposed Judicial City area, the Bench criticised the police for allowing such unsupervised pockets to exist within municipal limits and for missing the “golden window” crucial in missing-person cases.

The court said it was deeply concerned that a body could remain undiscovered in a city area for over a month and demanded an explanation from the police. It also noted the petitioner’s claim that authorities failed to act promptly at the outset.

"More concerningly, to say that a body was in a marshy area right within the municipality/corporation area and undetected for over a month or so as now the Government Pleader says that the police now suspects – it is something to be very concerned about. The police certainly have a role to play in this and inform us why such areas are kept unsupervised. We want information on this also on the next posting date," the court noted in its interim order.

With a Special Investigation Team (SIT) already constituted, the Bench instructed investigators also to track what happened to Lama’s belongings after his return from Kuwait. 

"He was sent back from Kuwait. He must have all his belongings. Whatever those belongings were. Let the police tell us. We want the investigation to continue. Until we decide this matter. The same investigation team will answer all our questions. We don't want our local police to do this. We want the SIT to now go into it and verify. Our radar will the ADGPs and DGPs," said the court.

The court said the SIT—not local police—must continue the probe and respond to all queries, with oversight extending up to senior police leadership.

(with Live Law inputs)