- Wife petitioned Supreme Court, claiming husband alive after strike.
- DNA analysis showed recovered remains were not Captain Kumar’s.
- Ransom calls, digital evidence suggest captain’s possible captivity.
Months after Merchant Navy Captain Ashish Kumar was presumed dead in a missile strike on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman, his wife has approached the Supreme Court with a startling claim: that he is alive and being held captive by unidentified foreign actors. In a habeas corpus petition, Anshu Kumar has urged the apex court to direct authorities to trace and secure the release of her husband, alleging that she received ransom calls demanding Rs 20 lakh for his freedom. The plea challenges the earlier assumption that Captain Kumar died in the attack and cites forensic findings and digital evidence to argue that his fate remains unknown.
Supreme Court Petition Challenges Presumption Of Death
Captain Ashish Kumar, 37, a native of Bettiah in Bihar, was commanding the oil tanker Sky Light when it was struck by a missile near Khasab port in Oman on March 1 during the early phase of the Iran conflict. At the time, the Indian Embassy in Oman stated that ten Indian crew members were on board the vessel when it caught fire following the strike, as per reports. While eight sailors were rescued by Omani authorities, Captain Kumar and another crew member, Dalip, who were working in the engine room, remained unaccounted for, as per reports.
On March 4, the Omani Coast Guard recovered charred skeletal remains from the captain’s cabin. Based on the circumstances, the Indian Embassy had said the remains “most likely” belonged to Captain Kumar because no one else was believed to have entered the cabin after the attack.
However, Anshu Kumar’s petition contends that subsequent developments have fundamentally altered that conclusion.
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DNA Report Raises Fresh Questions
According to the petition, the Indian Embassy in Muscat informed the family on May 15 that DNA analysis established the recovered remains did not belong to Captain Ashish Kumar.
The plea further relies on a Biological Technical Examination Report prepared by the Directorate General of Search and Criminal Investigation of the Royal Oman Police. According to the petition, the examination found no human DNA in the bone fragments recovered from the vessel, casting doubt on the earlier identification.
The petition argues that these findings undermine the official presumption that the Merchant Navy captain died in the attack and instead suggest his whereabouts remain unknown.
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Ransom Calls and Digital Trail Form Key Evidence
Apart from the forensic evidence, the petition points to a series of developments that the family believes indicate Captain Kumar may still be alive.
According to the plea, a WhatsApp message sent by Anshu Kumar was successfully delivered to her husband’s secondary mobile phone more than three hours after the missile strike, suggesting the device remained active after the incident.
The petition also states that from March 4 onwards, Anshu Kumar allegedly received multiple calls from Indian and international phone numbers, with callers claiming that Captain Kumar was alive and in their custody. The callers reportedly demanded Rs 20 lakh as ransom for his release.
The plea further notes that the WhatsApp account linked to Captain Kumar’s primary iPhone was manually deleted on March 31. It argues that this deletion occurred only 30 days after the attack, significantly earlier than WhatsApp’s reported 120-day period for automatic deletion of inactive accounts, indicating that someone may have deliberately accessed the device.
