The Kerala High Court has directed the Director-General of Police (DGP) to submit details of a body recently recovered from a marshy area in Kalamassery, suspected to be that of Suraj Lama, who has been missing from Kochi since his arrival from Kuwait on October 10, 2025.
In addition, the Superintendent of the Government Medical College, Kalamassery, where he was reportedly admitted, has been directed to submit reports on his medical history. Expressing hope and prayer that the body is not that of Lama, the court sought details on what happened at the hospital after he was reported missing.
When informed that a post-mortem, scientific tests, and DNA profiling were under way to identify the body, the court questioned how the police could leave an area proposed for the Judicial City unsupervised for over a month. It further directed the special investigation team (SIT) of the police to trace his belongings.
Earlier this month, the court had impleaded the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit and the Social Justice department in a habeas corpus plea filed by Santon Lama, son of Suraj Lama, a Bengaluru resident who has been missing from Kochi since October 10 after being deported from Kuwait, reportedly following an alcohol poisoning incident. It further sought a report after completing an enquiry at destitute and shelter homes for senior citizens in the State.
The Thrikkakara police had taken him into custody on October 8, 2025, and transported him in an ambulance to the Government Medical College Hospital at Kalamassery, from where he has been reported missing since October 10, 2025.
In the meantime, Santon Lama, Lama’s son, could not confirm the identity of the mortal remains found in the forested area in Kalamassery on Monday (December 1, 2025). The advanced state of decomposition made identification impossible for Lama’s son, who had arrived with a cousin following intimation from the police.
The police have sent blood samples of Mr. Santon to forensic labs in Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad for scientific tests to confirm whether the remains are those of his father, an officer with the Kalamassery police said.
Mr. Santon raised allegations against the Government Medical College in Kalamassery, saying the hospital allowed his father, who had memory loss, to leave the premises unsupervised. “They first recorded him as an ‘unknown person’ and corrected the entry to his real name after the case gained media attention. Is this how the system works in Kerala?” he asked the media on Monday.
Published – December 01, 2025 09:37 pm IST
