CBI takes over missing military intel officer’s case

After the local police and the Crime Branch CID failed to crack the mysterious disappearance of a Military Intelligence wing staffer from Chennai despite investigating for more than eight years, the probe has gone to the Central Bureau of Investigation following a direction by the Madras High Court. The central agency has registered an FIR in this regard.

P Gnana Prakasam, who worked as an examiner at Military Intelligence under the Defence Ministry, was 45 years old when he went missing from Chennai.

Gnana Prakasam, his wife Yamuna and their daughter had flown down to Chennai on May 17, 2010, to attend Yamuna’s brother-in-law’s wedding. However, Yamuna’s brother suddenly died of cardiac arrest while they were here. Following this, the couple extended their stay and was with Yamuna’s family. On June 5, Gnana Prakasam went to meet his friend Periyasamy near Pachaiyappa’s College. The plan was to stay with him for the night in order to pick up his son from Chennai Central railway station the next morning.

However, when Yamuna called Gnana Prakasam around 5.30 am on June 6, he said he wouldn’t be able to go to the station and asked her to send someone else. As he sounded to be in panic, Yamuna tried to reach her husband over phone. He picked the call around 9.30 am and told her he was not in the position to talk.

Then the phone remained switched off till evening. Later, around 8 pm, another person picked Yamuna’s call and informed her that Gnana Prakasam was in a meeting in Tirupati.

As the efforts to trace him failed, Yamuna lodged a complaint with St Thomas Mount police station fearing threats to Gnana Prakasam’s life because he is an officer with the Military Intelligence. When there was no progress in the case, the case was transferred to CB-CID in 2014, but with little success. Yamuna then moved the High Court again seeking a direction to transfer the case to the CBI. Following court order, the CBI has taken up the case and registered an FIR.