CBI probe on to trace GREF officer who went missing on his way home

KOCHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has initiated an inquiry to trace an official of the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) under the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) who went missing while returning home from Arunachal Pradesh in November last year.

The missing case, initially registered at Kodumon police station in Pathanamthitta, was recently handed over to the CBI following a directive from the Kerala High Court.

Sasankan K, 58, of Sree Bhavanam House, Angadickal South, Kodumon, went missing while returning to spend his 89-day-long leave at home.

Though he boarded a train from Guwahati to Chennai, his family realised he was missing when they received a call from a railway officer informing them that two of Sasankan’s bags were found unattended at a railway station in Chennai on November 27.

“The family’s last contact with Sasankan was on November 25 when he spoke to his wife using the phone number of an auto-rickshaw driver in Bhubaneswar. During the call, he mentioned losing his mobile phone and money and requested his wife to send money using Google Pay. Following this, his brother-in-law sent Rs 5,000 to Sasankan’s Google Pay number. It is suspected that Sasankan, who boarded a train to Chennai, went missing during the journey,” said a CBI source.

Following a complaint by Sasankan’s wife, Sreekumari, Kodumon police filed a missing case on November 28. Praveen V S, the Station House Officer of Kodumon, said that all possible efforts were made to trace Sasankan.

“We obtained CCTV footage from Bhubaneswar Railway, which showed him standing on the platform. We also attempted to trace him using his mobile phone’s location, but the last known location was near Bhubaneswar on November 25. After that, the phone was switched off, and its location is untraceable,” he said.

On May 30, the CBI Special Crime Unit in Thiruvananthapuram re-registered the FIR and commenced the investigation into the incident.

The probe is being conducted by CBI DySP P Muthukumar. As part of the investigation, the CBI has requested all documents and evidence gathered by the police during inquiry.

A police officer said they obtained CCTV footage from Bhubaneswar Railway, which showed him standing on the platform. We also attempted to trace him using his mobile phone’s location, but the last known location was near Bhubaneswar on November 25.