Kochi, Nov 11 (NationPress) The Kerala High Court has mandated a thorough statewide search to locate 58-year-old hotelier Suraj Lama, who vanished after arriving in Kochi from Kuwait on October 5.

The court has also involved the state’s Anti-Human Trafficking Unit and the Social Justice Department as additional parties in the habeas corpus petition filed by his son, Santon Lama.

A bench comprising Justices Devan Ramachandran and M.B. Snehalatha took this action on its own initiative after the petitioner's counsel disclosed that an impleadment petition had been submitted but had not yet been presented to the bench.

The court instructed the Government Pleader to gather detailed reports from these two departments and ordered the police to carry out a thorough investigation into every shelter home, destitute center, and senior citizens' home across Kerala.

A status report is to be submitted by the next hearing, scheduled for Monday.

"Please ensure a complete search of all shelter homes and protection facilities in Kerala. Email and message all superintendents with the photograph. Ensure thorough searches are performed within a week," the Bench orally directed.

In his affidavit, Santon Lama expressed concern that his father might have fallen victim to trafficking or misled, or may have entered a shelter home under a false identity.

The family reported that Suraj Lama, a longtime hotelier in Kuwait, had been hospitalized due to alcohol poisoning and was allegedly experiencing partial memory loss and speech difficulties.

Friends in Kuwait informed family members that he had been subsequently transferred to a deportation center. A photograph of a flight ticket from Kuwait to Kochi dated October 5 led the family to file a missing-person report at the Nedumbassery Police Station.

Despite independent investigations, media outreach, and involvement from the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KeLSA), Lama has not been located.

The Bench noted that the missing individual may have received assistance from a Good Samaritan to travel elsewhere, suggesting that searches might soon need to expand beyond Kerala.

"Our primary focus is to locate this man. We are determined to find him,” the court stated, expressing complete faith in the capabilities of the state police and its investigative teams.