Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, May 31: The state High Court has dismissed the habeas corpus petition filed by the parents of young advocate from the city, Pritam Kumar, who had gone missing all of a sudden. The young lawyer had gone missing mysteriously in January this year.

The case hogged limelight for sometime, as the local Bar Association in March this year, served an ultimatum of ten days on the state government to entrust the case to Central Bureau of Investigation. In the meanwhile, Congress leaders had blamed the district in-charge minister, Krishna J Palemar, of putting his weight behind the abductors of the lawyer. The minister was accused of shielding the parents of a girl, who are said to be known to the minister, and who allegedly managed the abduction, as they objected to the love affair between their daughter and Pritam.

In the petition, Umesh, father of Pritam, had sought the court’s direction to the government to find his missing son. He had expressed the suspicion that Raviraj, an officer in the forest department, would have masterminded the abduction of his son.

The judge dismissed the petition, after asking the petitioner to cooperate with the policemen in their investigation. On behalf of the prosecution, E S Indiresh had placed arguments before the bench.

In the past, the parents of Pritam had refused to oblige, when the policemen had sought their blood samples to conduct DNA test to confirm the identity of a body they had found from Kota in Udupi taluk. While the policemen suspected that the body belonged to Pritam, the parents of Pritam had refuted this claim. Now, the next move by the parents of Pritam will decide the future course of investigation.