Stating that Suraj Lama, who was reported missing from Kochi since October 10, could have been traced had the police adhered to protocols for tracing a missing person, the Kerala High Court directed the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Nedumbassery police station or the investigating officer to produce all files pertaining to the case.
The post-mortem report too must be produced before the court, a Division Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice M.B. Snehalatha said, after the police informed the court that a body recovered from a forested area in Kalamassery was that of Mr. Lama, as confirmed by a DNA report. He had landed at the airport on October 5 along with 12 other deportees from Kuwait.
The missing person’s son, Santon Lama, had filed a habeas corpus plea before the High Court after Mr. Lama went missing. He had been discharged from the Government Medical College, Kalamassery, despite his poor health. The court had earlier flagged a systemic failure in the handling of the deported person.
The Division Bench held that the police would have been able to hand him over to his family had he been identified as the missing person. “This should not have happened. We can only apologise to the family, on behalf of the system,” the court said on Friday (February 6, 2026). The matter has been posted for hearing on Monday (February 9, 2026).
Published – February 06, 2026 10:16 pm IST
