Missing nuclear scientist's body found

Bangalore, Jun 14: The body of L Mahalingam, the Senior Scientific Officer of the Kaiga Atomic Power Plant who went missing six days go was recovered from the Kali river near the plant. Indian Navy divers recovered the body from the river behind the Nisarga guest house of the Nuclear Power Corporation Ltd in Mallapur township.

Police said that the body was identified by Kaiga officials as that of Loknath Mahalingam. Intelligence officers and his family members too identified the body. The ring and clothes found on the person helped in the identification. However the police sources said that it is not clear whether he had accidentally fallen into the river or it was an act of suicide. Police are also not ruling out the possibility of murder or attack by wild animals, as the Kaiga township is hemmed in by thick forests.

The 47-year-old scientist has been missing since Monday, Jun 8 when he left his home in Kaiga township for jogging in the morning. The incident came to light when Mahalingam's wife registered a police complaint. A combined search was carried by the police, Intelligence and CISF sleuths to track him down. Mahalingam, a graduate in mechanical engineering, was working in the simulator division of the plant. Kaiga atomic plant is surrounded by 1,000-acre dense Mallapur forest.

OneIndia News