Kochi, Kerala: An unidentified body was found near HMT in Kalamassery on Sunday, officials said. The body, which is over a month old, is suspected to be that of Suraj Lama, a Kuwaiti national who has been missing since October 5.

However, an official confirmation will be possible only after Lama’s son, Santon Lama, identifies the body. Kalamassery police have reached the site and initiated legal proceedings. The authorities have summoned Santon Lama to the state.

Earlier, the Kerala High Court proposed the creation of a statewide mechanism to disseminate information about missing persons to every citizen.

The suggestion came from a Division Bench comprising Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice M.B. Snehalatha while hearing a habeas corpus plea filed by Santon Lama seeking to trace his father.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted under the Court’s orders, is currently leading the probe.

According to the family, Suraj Lama, a longtime hotelier in Kuwait, had been hospitalised for alcohol poisoning and was reportedly suffering from partial memory loss and speech impairment.

Friends in Kuwait informed his relatives that he was later transferred to a deportation centre. A photograph of a flight ticket from Kuwait to Kochi dated October 5 prompted the family to lodge a missing-person complaint at Nedumbassery Police Station.