CBI takes over case of Keralam man in Tripura State Rifles missing since 2012

Kochi, The CBI has taken over the investigation into the disappearance of a 27-year-old man from Ernakulam district, who was serving in the Tripura State Rifles and went missing while travelling by train in April 2012, following a direction from the Kerala HC, officials said on Sunday.

The missing man, Subhash Chandra Bose, a native of Vengoor in Ernakulam district, was returning to his workplace in Tripura after leave when he disappeared.

The case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, following an order issued by the High Court last month on a petition filed by Bose's father, P K Balan.

The CBI Special Crime Branch filed the re-registered FIR before the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on October 28, officials said.

Bose was a rifleman with the Third Battalion of the Tripura State Rifles and had been serving in the force for seven years before his disappearance.

According to the CBI, he boarded the Ernakulam-Guwahati Express at Ernakulam Junction at 9.20 pm on April 3, 2012. He was travelling on a general ticket as he did not have a reservation.

Balan, who had accompanied his son to the railway station, got down at Aluva, the FIR said.

Bose told his father that he would try to arrange a seat with the help of the Travelling Ticket Examiner.

Officials said Bose spoke to his mother over the phone on April 4 and told her that he had reached Andhra Pradesh.

The following day, he called again and said his mobile recharge balance was running low. He told his family that he would contact them after reaching his workplace. However, he never called again.

On April 10, 2012, the family learnt that he had not reported for duty at his unit of the Tripura State Rifles in Dhalai district, officials said.

Balan lodged a complaint at the Ernakulam Railway Police Station on April 13, following which a missing-person case was registered.

During the investigation, railway police found that Bose was last seen alive at Visakhapatnam Railway Station, officials said.

The case was subsequently transferred to the Government Railway Police in Visakhapatnam, which re-registered it as a missing-person case on October 15, 2012.

The High Court directed the CBI to take over the investigations into both the Ernakulam Railway Police case and the Visakhapatnam GRP case.

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