The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officially began its investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Kumar Ajitabh, who went missing in Bengaluru on December 19 last year.
11 months after he disappeared, the CBI has registered an FIR in connection with the case. On December 19, 2017, Ajitabh had gone missing after he left home upon receiving a call from a prospective buyer for his car.
The Karnataka High Court had last week ordered the CBI to take over the probe following. It was reported that the translation of over 1,000 pages of Kannada documents was delaying the CBI probe.
Speaking to Times of India,, Ajitabh's sister Pragya Sinha said, "It took 11 months to take it to CBI. We are just praying that our brother returns".
The CBI has registered a case under IPC 363 (kidnapping) and the Additional SP of the Special Crimes Branch, CBI, G Kalaimani has been appointed as the investigating officer in the case.
The CBI has collected information compiled by Whitefield Police and the CID which was previously investigating the case.
The CBI is hoping to make headway in the case which has puzzled investigating officials so far.
Ajitabh had posted an advertisement for the car - a Maruti CIAZ - on the online marketplace OLX. According to friends and roommates, Ajitabh was last seen at around 7:22 pm on December 18 2017. His last known location is Gunjur and the officials are investigating whether he was caught up in a larger operation. The police have also requested information from Google to help track Ajitabh.
Ajitabh's family and friends staged a protest in July at the Town Hall in Bengaluru demanding a CBI probe into the incident. Ashok Kumar Sinha, Ajitabh's father had earlier moved the Karnataka High Court demanding that the CBI take over the case.
The High Court had ordered the state to hand over the investigation to the CBI in October.