Kozhikode: Noushad, the main accused and alleged mastermind in the abduction and murder of Wayanad businessman Hemachandran, was taken into custody at Bengaluru airport on Tuesday. He was in Saudi Arabia for the past two and a half months allegedly searching for a job. Upon return, immigration officials detained him based on a lookout notice issued by Kozhikode Police.

“He landed in Bengaluru around noon and was blocked by immigration," said a member of the investigation team and added that they will arrest Noushad later in the day.  

With Noushad’s arrest, the total number of arrests has reached four, including Ajesh, Jyothish, and Vyshakh. According to the Police, more arrests are likely, including a Kannur woman who aided the abduction and a Gundlupet woman who was reportedly aware of the crime.

Hemachandran went missing on March 20, 2024, from Kozhikode, where he was staying in a rented house in Mayanad near the Government Medical College. The accused reportedly planned the abduction to recover money owed to them. Noushad arranged for a woman to befriend Hemachandran and lure him to the Medical College area. There, the team abducted him and took him to Wayanad, where he was killed the next day. His body was later buried in a forest near Cherambadi on the Kerala–Tamil Nadu border.

The body was exhumed in June 2025 by a joint team of the City Crime Squad and Medical College Police, led by Assistant Commissioner A Umesh and then Inspector P K Jijeesh. After Jijeesh’s transfer to Kumbala in Kasaragod, Inspector K K Agesh took over the case.