Missing Hyderabad student’s family disputes Finnish police claim about finding ‘his body’
Finnish police say the body was identified using personal belongings recovered at the scene, but family questions both the identification and the investigation
Two months after Hyderabad student Manideep Reddy Gujja went missing in Finland, the mystery surrounding his disappearance has taken a fresh turn after his family rejected Finnish police's claim that a body recovered from the sea was his.
Manideep's father, Mutyam Reddy, has reportedly claimed that the body found by Finnish authorities was not that of his son, contradicting the police's assertion that the identity had been established through personal belongings recovered from the scene.
I-card recovered from body
Manideep, a resident of Hayathnagar in Hyderabad, had travelled to Finland to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Software and Systems Engineering at the Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT University).
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According to Finnish police, a body recovered from the sea in Helsinki's Kruunuvuorenranta area on July 9 was identified as Manideep based on personal belongings found on it, including his Finnish identity card, Indian currency and a bank card belonging to his mother.
In a statement, the police said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was examining the cause of death and that, at present, there was no indication of any criminal offence.
Disappeared after Helsinki trip
Manideep went missing on May 5 after travelling nearly 100 kilometres by train from Lahti, where he was studying, to Helsinki.
Investigators said he arrived at Helsinki Central Railway Station around 5.14 pm (local time) before visiting a burger outlet in the city. CCTV footage later captured him at a K-Market supermarket in Kruunuvuorenranta around 8 pm. His mobile phone was switched off shortly afterwards, and he was not seen again.
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According to his family, Manideep had spoken to his mother shortly before disappearing and requested that Rs 6,000 be transferred to his account. Although the money was credited, bank records reportedly showed it was never used.
Family alleges foul play
Rejecting the Finnish authorities' preliminary assessment, Manideep's family has maintained that the circumstances surrounding his disappearance are suspicious.
Manideep’s cousin Anuhya told The Federal that the family suspects he was kidnapped and, under pressure, the Finland police are showing someone’s body as his to close the case quickly. The family is upset with the Indian Embassy in Finland too, she said.
Family lawyer KLB Kumar alleged that several questions remain unanswered and demanded a comprehensive investigation into the case. "The circumstances under which he disappeared and how he died must be thoroughly investigated," Kumar said earlier.
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He also alleged that Finnish authorities gradually stopped sharing updates with the family after May 29, despite initially providing regular information on the investigation.
According to Kumar, investigators had informed the family that Manideep's university account was accessed on May 9 and again on May 10—several days after he went missing. Finnish authorities reportedly said they were examining the devices and IP addresses linked to those logins.
Family seeks govt intervention
The family had earlier approached the Telangana High Court seeking assistance after claiming they were unable to obtain visas to travel to Finland during the search operation. The hearing is on July 16.
According to Kumar, the visa applications of Manideep's parents were rejected by Finnish authorities on grounds including insufficient proof of financial means for the proposed stay.
Following the recovery of the body, the family urged the Indian government and the Indian Embassy in Finland to coordinate with Finnish authorities for a transparent investigation and to facilitate the repatriation of Manideep's mortal remains to Hyderabad.
However, things change now as the family has denied that the body is Manideep's. The case continues to be investigated by Finland's NBI, while the family insists the circumstances surrounding the student's disappearance and reported death warrant a far more detailed probe.