Kerala High Court Directs Formation Of SIT To Trace Missing Kuwait Resident

The Kerala High Court on Saturday (October 25) directed the Commissioner of Police to constitute a Special Investigation Team to trace out Suraj Lama, who has been missing since October 5 after he arrived in Kochi from Kuwait.

The Division Bench comprising Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice M.B. Snehalatha was considering a habeas corpus petition filed by his son.

When the matter came for consideration, the Bench orally assured that every effort would be taken to trace out the missing man. It orally said, "Now we want to trace him out, we have to trace him out. Come what maybe, we have to trace him out...We want full details through the embassy now."

The central government counsel, Adv. S. Krishna, who was representing DSGI, submitted that he appears to have been sent back to India on an emergency certificate, perhaps because his passport is lost or for another reason for deportation. She sought a week's time to place the full details on file.

The government pleader told the Court that despite best efforts, the missing person could not be traced out. 

The Court passed the following order:

"Smt. Parvathi Menon appearing for the petitioner makes an allegation that the authorities are not acting with the alacrity that they should normally exhibit. We do not propose to make any incriminatory remark at this stage but rather of the view that a special team must be constituted headed by the 4th respondent Commissioner of Police so as to trace out the alleged detinue. However, in the meanwhile, we direct the 4th respondent to take over investigation and constitute a Special Investigation Team under him to be headed by an officer of the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police. The necessary details and proceedings in this regard shall be made available to us in the next posting. Needless to say, every effort must be on by the competent authorities to ensure that the alleged detinue is traced out. and this shall be continued without fail."

Background

Santon Lama, the son of the missing Suraj Lama, had come before the High Court seeking a direction to the respondents to conduct an immediate and time-bound investigation into the disappearance of his father.

In his plea, it is stated that his father had been engaged in hotel business for several decades in Kuwait. After a spell of no communication from his father, the petitioner and his mother had reached out to his friends in Kuwait and was told that his father was admitted in a hospital due to alcohol poisoning. It was also informed that the petitioner's father appeared to be suffering from partial memory loss, speech impairment and even unable to recall his own name.

Later, Suraj Lama was stated to be transferred to a deportation centre in Kuwait and on 07.10. 2025, his friend sent a photograph of an air ticket, which was alleged taken from the mobile phone of a security guard. The ticket showed that the flight was from Kurwait to Kochi on 05.10.2025.

On receipt of this information, Santon and his mother had travelled to Kochi and registered a complaint before the Nedumbassery Police Station near Cochin International Airport (CIAL). Subsequently, the petitioner received information that his father was seen in many places in Kochi but he could not be traced out.

The petitioner approached the media for assistance and thereafter, seeing the media reports, the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KeLSA) has reached out to him. He even made a representation to the Commissioner of Police and conducted independent enquiries but to no avail. Aggrieved, he approached the High Court.

The petition is moved by Adv. Parvathi Menon.

Case No: WP (Crl) No. 1421/2025

Case Title: Santon Lama v. State of Kerala and Ors.