The wife of Merchant Navy Captain Ashish Kumar, previously presumed dead after a missile and drone attack on the M.T. Skylight vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, has petitioned the Supreme Court of India. She claims her husband is alive and being held in illegal captivity, citing compelling new evidence.
Attack and Initial Presumption of Death
Captain Kumar went missing after the M.T. Skylight, anchored near Khasab Port in Oman, was reportedly struck by a missile and drone on March 1, 2026. This incident occurred amidst heightened regional tensions involving the United States, Iran, and Israel. While 18 of the 20 crew members were rescued, Captain Ashish Kumar and another Indian national were reported missing.
Indian authorities initially presumed Captain Kumar had died after burnt skeletal remains were recovered from his cabin. However, this assumption is now being challenged by his family.
DNA Evidence Challenges Official Stance
A central pillar of the wife's plea is forensic evidence. DNA testing of the recovered remains did not match samples provided by Captain Kumar's younger brother. According to the petition, the Indian Embassy in Muscat informed the family on May 15, 2026, that the remains were not those of Captain Ashish Kumar. Further supporting this, a Biological Technical Examination Report by the Royal Oman Police reportedly found no human DNA in the examined bone fragments.
WhatsApp Clues and Ransom Demands
Beyond forensic findings, the petition relies on electronic records to bolster the claim of Captain Kumar's survival. It alleges that a WhatsApp message sent to his secondary mobile phone was successfully delivered more than three hours after the attack, indicating the device was still active. Furthermore, the petitioner claims she received ransom calls on March 4, demanding ₹20 lakh for his release and explicitly stating he was alive and in captivity.
The plea also highlights that the WhatsApp profile linked to the captain's primary iPhone was manually deleted on March 31, significantly before WhatsApp's automatic inactivity deletion period of 120 days. This suggests someone physically accessed the device after the attack.
Wife Seeks Government Intervention
Captain Kumar's wife has filed a habeas corpus plea, urging the Supreme Court to direct the Union government, through the Ministries of External Affairs and Home Affairs, to actively trace, locate, and produce Captain Ashish Kumar. She argues that despite repeated representations to various authorities, including the Ministry of External Affairs and the Directorate General of Shipping, no specialized cross-border investigation has been initiated.
The petition contends that the government's failure to effectively locate Captain Kumar violates his fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution. It seeks high-level diplomatic engagement with Oman and relevant international maritime authorities to ascertain his whereabouts in light of the compelling new evidence.