Navy officer who was burnt alive in Palghar jungle, dies

Suraj Kumar Dubey

A navy officer, who had gone missing from Chennai and was later found badly burnt in a forested stretch in Palghar district, succumbed to his injuries on Saturday. Suraj Kumar Dubey, 26, was returning to his headquarters after a holiday at his hometown in Jharkhand, when he went missing. The Palghar police have registered a case against unknown persons for murder.

Dubey had started his return journey from Palamu village, Jharkhand district, on January 30. The same day, around 4 pm, he took a flight from Ranchi to Hyderabad. He called his family from Hyderabad and since then, had been untraceable. His family filed a missing person's complaint.

Palghar police said that in his statement to the police, Dubey said that he had reached Chennai airport at 9 pm, on January 30. "When he came out of the airport, he was kidnapped and kept in some unknown place. The kidnappers had sought a ransom of Rs 10 lakh. When he didn't pay the money, he was brought to Palghar, where he was tortured and burnt alive."