Writer and former AIR news reader Mavelikkara Ramachandran is reported missing prompting some activists here to seek intervention of Home Minister Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan, who has directed authorities concerned to look into the matter.

In a memorandum submitted to the minister yesterday, Ramachandran's friends, including novelist and former Director of Public Relations G N Panicker and 'Indian Lawyers Congress' state president P Rahim, said there has been no response from his mobile phone.

The Home Minister has asked the authorities to look into the matter, officials said.

Ramachandran, a bachelor, who was staying in a rented lodge near Shankhumugham beach here had not returned to the lodge after leaving the premises a few weeks ago, according to his friends and neighbours.

He was not keeping well for some time and had undergone treatment at an ayurvedic centre. A person who met him last near his lodge said Ramachandran had told him that he would be going to Mumbai. But his whereabouts could not be traced from his contacts in Mumbai either, they said.

Ramachandran, now in his 70s, had read Malayalam news for All India Radio from Delhi for over three decades and had an active presence in the Malayali cultural circles in the national capital. After retirement, he has been staying here.