The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has officially stepped in to investigate the disappearance of Subhash Chandra Bose, a 27-year-old Tripura State Rifles personnel who went missing under mysterious circumstances while travelling by train in April 2012. Hailing from Vengoor in Kerala's Ernakulam district, Bose had served for seven years in the paramilitary force as a rifleman attached to the Third Battalion before his sudden disappearance.
Fresh FIR Filed Following Kerala High Court Intervention
The federal agency's intervention follows a directive issued by the Kerala High Court on a petition moved by the missing rifleman's father, P K Balan, who sought a comprehensive reinvestigation into the whereabouts of his son. In compliance with the judicial mandate, the CBI Special Crime Branch re-registered the First Information Report (FIR) and submitted it before the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on October 28.
Final Communications During the Rail Journey
According to the case documentation outlined in the CBI FIR, Bose boarded the Ernakulam-Guwahati Express (Train No. 12507) from Ernakulam Junction at approximately 9:20 pm on April 3, 2012. Because he did not possess a reserved berth, he was travelling on an unreserved general ticket. His father, who had accompanied him to see him off, disembarked shortly afterwards at Aluva. Prior to his father's departure, Bose mentioned that he would speak with the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) in an effort to secure an available seat.
The family maintained regular communication with the rifleman over the ensuing two days. On April 4, Bose telephoned his mother to let her know that the train had crossed into Andhra Pradesh. During their subsequent conversation the following day, he informed his family that his mobile phone recharge balance was running critically low, adding that he would call back once he safely arrived at his military post.
Tracking the Timeline of the Disappearance
Alarm bells rang on April 10, 2012, when the family received word that Bose had failed to report for duty at his operational unit situated in Tripura's Dhalai district. Prompted by his absence, his father lodged an official missing-person complaint at the Ernakulam Railway Police Station on April 13, 2012. The probe was subsequently shifted to the Government Railway Police (GRP) in Visakhapatnam, which registered a fresh missing-person case on October 15, 2012. Under its recent ruling, the Kerala High Court instructed the CBI to take over both investigations initially opened by the Ernakulam Railway Police and the Visakhapatnam GRP to uncover the truth behind the disappearance.
