The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday, 16 January, reportedly asked Bengaluru’s Commissioner of Police T Suneel Kumar to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a probe into the case of a 29-year-old Bengaluru-based software engineer, who went missing on 18 December after he put his car up for sale on OLX.
Kumar Ajitabh, who hails from Patna, had listed his vehicle on online marketplace Olx for sale.
The High Court’s order came in response to a writ petition that had been filed by Ajitabh’s father, Ashok Kumar Sinha, which had sought a CBI probe into the matter, reports The News Minute.
The report adds that the call to form an SIT came after Sinha voiced his fears regarding his son being in grave danger or being used for anti-national activities.
“What if he is undergoing treatment in any hospital that we don’t know about? What if he is hurt?” Ashok Kumar had earlier told The News Minute.
Justice AS Bopanna, who was hearing Sinha’s petition, said that no significant headway had been made in the investigation and criticized the manner in which it was being conducted as well. Meanwhile, Whitefield DCP Abdul Ahad told The News Minute that the SIT would be formed by Wednesday evening.
The court will hear the matter again on 22 January.
Police had earlier said that Ajitabh's friends stated that he had gone out on 18 December evening around 6:30 pm to meet a prospective car buyer. According to his flatmates, Ajitabh was contacted by someone who wanted to presumably meet him with regard to the car sale on the day of his disappearance.
According to police, his phone is switched off.
It was reportedly active on WhatsApp till about 7:10 pm that evening, they said.
An FIR was registered by Ajitabh’s flatmates with the Whitefield police station on Wednesday, 20 December.
Ajitabh had got through an executive MBA programme at Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, and was about to shift from Bangaluru, where he was residing with a friend since 2010. He is said to have put his car up for sale to fund his studies.
The car has not yet been traced, the police said, adding that they are searching for him.
We rushed to Bengaluru from Patna right after his friends informed us about the incident. We have tried to contact authorities multiple times since and have received no concrete information from them. In fact, his friends have been making heroic efforts to find him. Police is also providing their support, but no result has come so far. As such, days are passing, and I fear for my son’s safety.Ajitabh’s father
Ajitabh's phone was last tracked to Gunjur on the outskirts of the city.
A police officer, who is investigating the case, was quoted by NDTV as saying:
We are investigating all angles, we have sought data from the online classified portal (OLX) as well. We have obtained his call record details as well.Police officer
Family and Friends Start Social Media Campaign
The engineer's family and friends have also started a social media campaign with the hashtag #FindAjitabh.
(With inputs from PTI)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)