Justice Mengdey orally asked the Public Prosecutor to explain if there was any animosity between the deceased and the accused, why the deceased and his father had visited the house of the suspects and what transpired during the visit as well as a detailed investigation into the circumstances that led to CCTV footage that showed the man naked on the streets.

In an oral order, the court said, “At the request of learned Public Prosecutor to enable the Investigating Officer to submit further report on the aspect of the circumstances under which the man got naked and was roaming on the road …, (stand over) 25.08.2026.”

The Gujarat HC is hearing a petition filed by the man’s seeking to transfer investigation in the FIR lodged on March 9, 2025 under Sections of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita for 106(1) (causing death by negligence), 125 (endangering life or personal safety of others), 281 (rash driving or riding on a public way) as well as the Motor Vehicle Act. As per the petition before the HC, the father of the deceased has “raised doubt that his son was murdered” as he was missing since March 2. The petitioner had approached the police giving details of the incident on March 5.

The petition alleges that a former MLA and his son were involved in the matter and accuses the local police of protecting them. The family has sought transfer of the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

According to the petitioner, the UPSC aspirant went missing on March 2, 2025, after allegedly being assaulted at the residence of one of the accused. He had left home wearing a grey T-shirt and blue trousers. The family contends that CCTV footage later showed him walking naked on the Rajkot-Ahmedabad highway. Later, in another CCTV clip, he was seen wearing different clothes, while the clothes he had originally worn were never recovered.

The petition also questions how he could have travelled nearly 52 km overnight without carrying his mobile phone, alleges that several vehicles were seen following him while he was naked and claims the injuries recorded during the post-mortem examination are “inconsistent with a road accident”.

The state has previously informed the HC in December 2025 that an investigation had been conducted on the technical aspects of the case, including a Call Detail Record (CDR) and narco analysis as well as statements of witnesses in the three cases – a missing complaint filed by the man’s family, a complaint submitted to the police station regarding the suspicion against 11 persons, including the former MLA’s son, as well as a complaint of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the driver of the luxury bus by which the man is alleged to have been run over.

The state also informed the court that a narco test was conducted on the former MLA’s son on December 11 last year, following permission received from the Rajkot court, with a set of 31 questions and the result of the narco test “was not in favour of the prosecution”.