Kochi: The Kerala High Court has initiated a serious inquiry into whether police inaction contributed to the untimely death of Suraj Lama, a Bengaluru resident who tragically passed away after going missing last year. The court underscored the critical importance of adhering to proper protocols in missing persons cases, suggesting that Lama might still be alive had these procedures been followed.
Suraj Lama, 59, had arrived in Kochi on October 5, 2025, after being deported from Kuwait, where he previously operated a restaurant. His deportation was reportedly due to memory loss attributed to methanol poisoning. He disappeared on October 10, 2025, from a hospital in Kochi where police had admitted him. His decomposed body was later discovered on November 30, 2025, in a forested area near the Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) premises in Kalamassery.
A bench comprising Justices Devan Ramachandran and M B Snehalatha highlighted a significant oversight: Lama’s wife had lodged a missing person complaint at the Nedumbassery Police Station on October 8, 2025. Yet, on October 10, 2025, the police themselves took Lama into protective custody, presumably under the Mental Healthcare Act, and sent him to the Ernakulam Medical College, seemingly unaware of the existing missing report.
The court described the situation as “ironic,” noting that the police had located the missing individual without realizing he had been reported missing. “Prima facie, had the protocol been followed, we have little doubt that Suraj Lama would be alive today because the police would have understood that he is a person missing and would perhaps have handed him over to his family,” the bench observed. While acknowledging that “fate had other designs,” the court stressed the need to verify if this tragic outcome was “contributed by inaction from any authority, including the police.”
Emphasizing the gravity of the situation, the court stated, “The situation is certainly dire and we need to get to the bottom of why the police did not know when they took Suraj Lama into their custody on October 10, 2025 that he was a person who had been reported to be missing by his wife to the Nedumbassery Police Station on October 08, 2025.”
In light of these observations, the court directed the Station House Officer of the Nedumbassery Police Station, or the officer investigating Lama’s missing person case, to appear before the court with all relevant files on February 9, the next scheduled hearing date. The court’s directives were issued during the hearing of a habeas corpus plea filed by Lama’s son, Santon, seeking his father’s whereabouts.
Earlier the same day, police submitted a forensic report confirming that the decomposed body belonged to Lama. Following this confirmation, the court ordered that his remains be released to his wife and son for final rites.
