The Tamil Nadu police on Thursday, April 18 told the Madras High Court most of the six people who had gone missing from the Isha Foundation’s yoga centre in Coimbatore had returned. The submission was made before a Division Bench of Justices MS Ramesh and Sunder Mohan who were hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a man, whose brother has been missing for a year.
A police source had earlier told TNM that five out of the six missing people were found. Four persons were tourists who had lost their way while trekking up the Velliangiri hills which is a part of the Western Ghats, in Coimbatore district. The fifth person was a woman, who was found dead in a well in January 2023. The habeas corpus petition was filed by Thirumalai, who is the brother of the sixth person – Ganesan – who has been missing since March 2023.
Read: Police to tell court that four out of six people missing from Isha foundation were traced
According to the First Information Report (FIR), Ganesan, who has been volunteering with Isha since 2007, was last seen at the Yoga centre on February 28, 2023. He reportedly took an auto that night and reached the Poondi temple located on the Velliangiri hills’ base and went missing. His family was alerted by the volunteers at Isha.
The police said that special teams were deployed on the Velliangiri hills and that the other police stations located nearby were informed. However, they were not able to trace Ganesan.
During one of the previous hearings on March 22, the Additional Public Prosecutor E Raj Thilak had told the court that 36 people have gone missing from Isha Yoga centre. However, when the court asked for the statement, he clarified that five other volunteers were missing at that time but most of them had returned after being away due to personal reasons. He also told the court that the police need time to trace Ganesan. The habeas corpus petition has been listed ‘For Dismissal’ on June 7.