Malappuram: District Police Chief S Sujith Das has said that five more accused are to be nabbed over the murder of traditional healer Shaba Sharif. Sixty-year-old Sharif, who went missing from Mysuru, was held hostage at a house in Nilmbur for more than a year, tortured and killed.
A team led by Nilambur and special branch DySPs has been deployed for the investigation. Efforts will be made to trace the dead body, which was chopped into pieces and thrown into the Chaliyar river.
A senior police officer said that even if the body cannot be found, the murder could be proved on the basis of circumstantial and digital evidence, and that there is a verdict of the Supreme Court in this regard.
Meanwhile, the financial dealings and sources of prime accused Shaibin Ashraf, 42, are also being checked.
When Shaba Sharif had been held hostage, Shaibin's wife and child were also at the house. The wife's statement has been recorded and it is being probed whether she was aware of the incident. The cop said it would also be checked if anyone else was involved in the incident, including in destroying evidence.
Mysuru native Shaba Sharif had been chained in a room on the first floor of Shaibin’s house at Mukkatta from August 2019 and tortured. Police have obtained the video footage of this.
Shaibin intended to get the secret cure for piles from Shaba Sharif and then start a treatment centre on his own. Shaba Sharif was killed in October 2020. The murder came to light during a probe into a burglary case.
Shaibin, Shihabuddin, Naushad, and Shaibin's driver Nishad were arrested over the murder. They have been remanded.
Probe into 2 deaths in the Gulf
Mystery shrouds the life of Shaibin, a native of Kaipenchery in Nilambur, who has been arrested over the murder case of the healer. The accused has a house in Nilambur, while a luxury home is under construction in Bathery. Both houses are enclosed within huge walls. Shaibin also has two houses in Bathery, and a business project at Thamarassery.
Shaibin was born into a lower middle-class family and his father was a mechanic. The cops are looking into the financial rise of this 42-year-old, who merely has plus-two education and computer knowledge.
Shaibin, who went to Abu Dhabi a decade ago, started work in the diesel business. Though he owns a restaurant there, Shaibin does not visit Abu Dhabi now. He has been barred from entering Abu Dhabi, as per the information received by the police. The cops are also probing the reason behind this.
A case had also been registered with Bathery police against Shaibin and co-accused Shihabuddin for beating up a person over a tug-of-war competition. This was settled recently by paying compensation. Police said that a case had also been filed against Shaibin at the Kunnamkulam station after one person was killed in a road accident.
The burglary case accused, who had threatened to immolate themselves in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, had revealed that Shaibin was involved in two murders in the Gulf. Shaibin's business partner, a Kozhikode native, and an Ernakulam native woman were found dead in the flat. The Kozhikode native was found with his wrist slit. The information would be handed over to the Abu Dhabi police for further probe.
