Suraj Lama's body handed over to relatives; funeral at Kalamassery crematorium

KOCHI: The body of missing Kolkata native Suraj Lama was handed over to his relatives today. The family has started funeral proceedings at the Kalamassery crematorium as per their beliefs. The DNA results confirming that the body is that of the Lama were released the other day.

Suraj Lama arrived in Kerala after losing his memory in the Kuwait liquor tragedy. Suraj Lama's son, Santon Lama, responded that he was disappointed that his father's death occurred in Kerala. The High Court had strongly criticised the police for not finding Suraj Lama. The court asked what happened despite registering a case and what the police did to find Lama. The High Court responded that it felt ashamed of the incident. The court also directed the Nedumbassery SHO to appear on Monday.

The issue came to the fore when Santon Lama began searching for Suraj Lama, who landed at the Nedumbassery airport on October 5. The police had found the Lama and taken him to Kalamassery Medical College, but he walked out of the hospital unsupervised and went missing again. The court intervened in the matter following a habeas corpus petition filed by his son. The search was started under the leadership of a special investigation team following a strong order from the court.

The body, suspected to be that of the Lama, was found two months ago from the HMT premises. There has been widespread criticism of the failure of the police and the Medical College Hospital system to find and protect Suraj Lama.