Kerala High Court orders high-level probe into Suraj Lama’s death

The Kerala High Court has ordered that the City Police Commissioner or a police officer of equivalent rank probe the death of Suraj Lama who had been reported missing from Kochi since October 10.

The probe must cover the entire sequence of events, from the time Lama landed at the Kochi airport after being deported from Kuwait, until his body was discovered in a forested area near HMT at Kalamassery. The court issued the order while considering a habeas corpus plea by Lama’s son Santon Lama.

During the hearing on the matter on Wednesday, the police submitted an interim post-mortem report, wherein it was mentioned that the cause of death could not be ascertained as the body was in a highly decomposed state.

The matter has been posted for hearing on March 4. The court had earlier flagged the systemic failure in handling the deported person.