The Madras High Court on Monday sought the response of the Police Department by Friday to a habeas corpus petition alleging the mysterious disappearance of anti-Sterlite activist T. Mugilan alias Shanmugam.

He is said to have gone missing after he released a video to the media on Friday to substantiate his claim of the police having orchestrated the Thoothukudi firing in which 13 were killed on May 22 last year. A Division Bench of Justices M.M. Sathyanarayanan and M. Nirmal Kumar directed Additional Public Prosecutor C. Iyyapparaj to take instructions from the Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai, as well as the Superintendents of Police in Kancheepuram and Villupuram districts since the activist had reportedly gone missing while travelling by train from Chennai to Madurai.