Tripura teacher’s 2011 disappearance: 3 bodies to be exhumed in Assam’s Sribhumi for DNA test

Three unidentified bodies buried in Assam’s Sribhumi district around 15 years ago will be exhumed as part of an investigation into the disappearance of a schoolteacher from Agartala, Tripura.

The bodies will be exhumed following a court order to determine whether any of them could be linked to Ashish Som, a teacher who went missing from Agartala in 2011. DNA samples from the bodies will be collected and compared with samples from Som’s family members in Agartala.

According to available information, Som went missing in 2011, following which his family filed a missing person complaint after failing to trace him for a prolonged period.

Later, allegations emerged that he had been abducted and that his family was asked to pay Rs 25 lakh as ransom. Investigators subsequently suspected that Som may have been killed after his family was unable to pay the demanded amount.

Around the same period, an unidentified body was recovered from the Sonbeel area of Sribhumi. After completing the necessary legal procedures, police buried the body.

It is understood that three unidentified bodies were buried in the area during that period.

Nearly 15 years later, the issue has resurfaced during the investigation into Som’s disappearance. A team of Tripura Police has reached Sribhumi as part of the probe following the court's directions.

However, investigators have not been able to establish which of the three graves could potentially contain Som’s remains. As a result, all three graves are being opened to collect samples.

The DNA samples obtained from the exhumed remains will be sent for testing against samples from Som’s family members in Agartala.

The identity of the bodies and whether any of them is linked to the missing teacher will become clear only after the DNA test results are received.