Nilambur: Kerala Police has accidentally cracked a nearly two-year-old man-missing case reported in Mysuru and arrested a 42-year-old industrialist and his two accomplices here in northern Kerala.
A few gangsters who are suspects in a totally different case in Kerala's Malappuram district have revealed to the cops that the missing person, Shaba Sharif, 60, was murdered in October 2020 in Nilambur in Malappuram district and the mastermind was industrialist Shaibin Ashraf.
Sharif's body was cut into pieces and thrown into Chaliyar river, Ashraf's aides — Shihabuddin (36), Naushad (41) — who were arrested told the police.
The custody of the accused is to be sought by the police as the court remanded them after arrest.
Sharif was a traditional medicine practitioner who ran a successful clinic offering treatment for piles. In August 2019 his family members complained to local police he was missing.
Sharif was abducted from Mysuru and held hostage for over a year at Ashraf's house in Nilambur, the gangsters who aided the industrialist told the police. They have handed over to the police visuals of Sharif being tortured by Ashraf in his bid to get hold of the secret medicine for piles.
Ashraf wished to launch a clinic after seizing the medicine. However, Sharif refused to part with it despite the torture in custody. He died while he was being assaulted a year after he was taken hostage, Ashraf's aides told the police.
The aides were also promised a share in the profits from the clinic. As no money was forthcoming from Ashraf, a seven-member gang, including Shihabuddin and Naushad, burgled his home in desperation on April 24. Ashraf soon approached the police and a manhunt was launched for the accused.
As per the complaint the gang looted Rs 7 lakh from the house.
Police arrested Bathery resident Thangalakathu Ashraf soon for the burglary.
Frustrated, five of the rest six who plundered the house reached Thiruvanathapuram on April 29 and threatened to immolate themselves in front of the Kerala Secretariat. They created quite a stir on the road as they poured petrol over themselves in broad daylight and claimed their life was under threat. Vehicles were held up as the drama was enacted on the middle of the road. Police intervened and they were told about Ashraf's role in the disappearance of the traditional healer. They handed over to the police a pen drive containing visuals of Sharif being tortured.
Sharif's kin are likely to be called for an identification parade. They have confirmed the tortured person in the visuals was Sharif himself.
