Kerala High Court orders CBI probe into 14-year-old soldier disappearance

The Kerala High Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate the 14-year-old disappearance of Subash Chandra Bose, a rifleman with the Tripura State Rifles. Justice G. Girish issued the order on a petition filed by Mr.

Bose’s father, who sought a CBI investigation to determine what happened to his son. Mr. Bose, a native of Vengoor in Ernakulam, went missing on April 4, 2012, while travelling by train from Kerala to Guwahati after leave.

His father last saw him at Ernakulam railway station on April 3. The following day, Mr. Bose telephoned his father from an unfamiliar mobile number and said the train had reached Visakhapatnam and that he was unwell.

On April 10, 2012, the Commandant of the Tripura State Rifles informed the father that Mr. Bose had not returned to his office after his leave. The source material does not report that his whereabouts were subsequently established.

The State government said it had no objection to transferring the case to the CBI. The agency opposed the request, arguing that the High Court lacked territorial jurisdiction because Mr. Bose had disappeared somewhere between Visakhapatnam and Guwahati.

It also said there was only a very remote possibility of tracing him after 14 years. The court held that the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 permits a court with local jurisdiction over a place forming part of a journey to order an inquiry when an offence is committed during that journey. The court acknowledged that the first 48 to 72 hours are critical in missing-person cases.

However, it said the passage of time could not prevent the court from considering a CBI investigation where a paramilitary soldier had disappeared without leads. The court also said a premier investigating agency should not adopt a pessimistic approach in such a case. It described the CBI probe as a last resort sought by the soldier’s father and directed the agency to investigate the disappearance.