Nuclear scientist goes missing at Kaiga, search on
11 Jun 2009
L Mahalingam, a top nuclear scientist with the Kaiga nuclear power plant in Karwar, Karnataka, has been reported missing since Monday morning. The Central Industrial Security Force and the local police have launched a joint operation to trace the scientist, official sources said.
Mahalingam, 47, left home around 6 am on Monday for his walk in the Mallarpur township of Kaiga, about 500km from Bangalore, but did not return home. His wife, Vinayakar Sundari, filed a missing complaint at the local (Mallapur) police station late on Monday.
Officials at the atomic power plant also joined CISF and the local police in the search operations and are combing surrounding jungles and lakes, but to no avail so far.
The Mallapur township is situated amidst thousands of acres of dense forests with a sizeable number of leopards.
Mahalingam, hails from Anna Nagar in Chennai and, according to sources, is an unlikely target for ransom.
His wife Vinayaka Sundari, however, has not ruled out kidnap in her FIR filed at the Mallapur police station.
Mahalingam is one of the top officials working in the training section and has access to sensitive documents.
He was known to be an upright officer and had no history of family problems.
