Mahalingam is among the top 22 senior officers at the Kaiga nuclear power plant. He worked at the Kalpakkam atomic power station from 1985 to 2000.
State and central intelligence officials in Chennai on Thursday launched a hunt in Tirupati and other religious places for a 48-year-old senior scientific officer from the Kaiga nuclear power plant, who went missing on June 8.
Lokanath Mahalingam, a trainer for recruits and interns, was known to visit Tirupati often as he followed spiritual pursuits, intelligence sources told DNA.
Mahalingam’s family was not willing to speak to DNA, and his brother in Chennai said, “I’m busy with some work and can’t speak.”
In Bangalore, the police ruled out a case of kidnapping and said he could have gone on his own or met with a tragedy.
Mahalingam, who worked in the plant’s simulator training division, went out for jogging on Monday at 6.30am and did not return. His wife Vinayaka Sundari filed a missing person’s complaint at Mallapuram police station at noon.
“He could have met with tragedy since the area is surrounded by a thick jungle,” superintendent of police (Karwar district) Raman Gupta told DNA.
Mahalingam did not have access to sensitive information, he added. The scientist has a clean record and had no family problems, Gupta said.
Mahalingam, who usually carried his wallet and wore his watch, did not do so on Monday. “He was spiritual. We are suspecting family friction though family members denied it. It is possible that he went on that pretext,” another police official said. There have been many cases of people going missing for three days for spiritual reasons, the police official added.
The police, along with the 40-member Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) manning the power plant, have combed the area. A lake beside Ramalingeshwara temple was emptied on suspicion that he drowned there. “We will continue search operations,” Gupta said.
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