Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka ordered the state government to pass on the investigation of the missing techie Ajitabh Kumar to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Justice Aravind Kumar on Monday passed this order responding to the petition filed by Ashok Kumar Sinha, father of Ajitabh. The father had pleaded for the transfer of the case to CBI from the Whitefield police station.

The court was of the view that the CBI, being a central agency, is in a better position to carry out the investigation and prepare a sound case for prosecution.

Ajitabh Kumar is a project manager for British Telecom. He disappeared mysteriously when he went to deliver a car and collect the money from a buyer, whom he had found on OLX on December 18, 2017.

With little confidence in the local police, the Karnataka High Court had transferred the case to the CID on March 8. The high court had criticised the investigation by local police as “routine and casual”.

Sinha accused the local police for grave negligence in the initial investigation. He pointed out that the police had made use of sniffer dogs and drones for the search 45 days after the incident.

Sinha further pleaded in the court that it would be easier for the CID to get access to Ajitabh’s message and location details, which was denied by Google and WhatsApp to the local police.

Later, as CID investigation didn’t get positive results, Ajitabh's father filed a petition in Karnataka High Court pleading for CBI investigation.

In January, his friends along with family, protested in Whitefield, Bengaluru. Recently, they reached Delhi to demand a CBI investigation as it has been more than 250 days since Ajitabh went missing.

The parents and friends are now hoping there will be some progress in the investigation and that justice will be delivered.