Kochi: It was a gesture so ordinary that no one would have remembered it - except now, when it has become impossible to forget. Ashik Ali stood for a few seconds outside the gate of his friend Afthab PM’s house, waiting, just as he always did after their usual night hangouts, until the door opened and his friend stepped safely inside. Then he waved, smiled, and rode his bike away into the quiet night. But that wave, Afthab said, was Ashik’s last goodbye.

Three days after he went missing, the body of Ashik Ali (24), a promising IT professional, was recovered from the Periyar River near the Chittoor-Kothad bridge on Tuesday morning, ending a desperate search and plunging his family and friends into shock and grief.

Ashik, the son of Shoukath Ali and Noor Jahan, lived at Edayakkunnam in Cheranalloor. A brilliant student, he had graduated from Model Engineering College and was working as a developer at an IT company in Infopark. Though work kept him busy through the week, weekends were reserved for childhood friends and simple joys like late-night chats, food outings and bike trips. And Saturday night seemed no different for Afthab when Ashik came to pick him up.

Afthab, a delivery executive with Instamart and Ashik’s closest friend since childhood, recalled meeting him at an eatery near Central Park in Panampilly Nagar along with their mutual friend Shefiqqudin on Saturday night. Over milkshakes, they spoke about movies, road trips and future plans. Just two months earlier, they had ridden together to Illickal Kallu in Kottayam.

That night, Ashik excitedly spoke of a longer dream to venture on the gang’s first-ever bike trip outside Kerala; to ride to Gujarat and Rajasthan. “He was happy, relaxed, completely normal. There was nothing to suggest he was in distress,” Afthab told Onmanorama.

After the meeting, around 12.30 am, Ashik dropped Afthab home on his Royal Enfield Hunter 350. As usual, he waited at the gate until Afthab’s brother opened the door. “He never left until he knew I was inside. I looked back, he waved, and then he sped off,” Afthab recalled.

At around 3 am, Afthab’s phone rang. Ashik’s father was on the line and he was worried because Ashik had not returned home. Still half asleep, Afthab initially dismissed the concern. “I told him Ashik had dropped me and gone home. But since his parents were so worried, I tried calling Ashik, but the phone rang unanswered,” he said.

Sensing something was wrong, Afthab pacified Ashik’s parents and went out with his brother searching on his bike. Near the Chittoor-Kothad bridge, they spotted Ashik’s bike parked on the bridge. His mobile phone and spectacles were placed neatly on the seat; his sandals lay on the ground near the side stand. Ashik was nowhere to be seen.

“I felt my heart sink. I knew something was not right and I immediately phoned his parents and our friends. Until they came, I shouted his name, searched around, prayed that my fears were wrong,” Afthab said.

The Cheranalloor police, informed immediately, rushed to the spot and launched a search along with the Fire and Rescue Services, scuba divers and local residents. With no eyewitnesses and no trace of Ashik, a missing case was registered, even as the suspicion grew that he may have jumped into the river.

For two days, hope and dread coexisted. “Even while fearing the worst, we kept telling ourselves he might come back. We even tried to convince ourselves that he was playing some prank because we didn’t want to believe it,” Afthab said.

That fragile hope collapsed on Tuesday morning when Ashik’s body was recovered from the river around 11.30 am, in a decomposed state. The police later changed the case to unnatural death. A post-mortem examination was conducted, and Ashik was laid to rest at the mosque in Edayakkunnam later in the day.

According to the police, no suicide note or message explaining his actions was found. However, preliminary inquiries suggest Ashik may have been under financial stress after reportedly losing a considerable amount of money in online share trading. The police are examining his bank accounts and financial history. “Prima facie, it appears to be a case of suicide. We have not found any evidence of foul play so far,” a police officer said.

The possibility has left his friends grappling with guilt and disbelief. “Only now are we hearing that he had debts and money issues. Sometimes he borrowed small amounts from us, even though he had a good job. He said he had to pay the EMIs for building a new house and often he was financially a bit constrained. But he always repaid us, so we never imagined things were so serious,” Afthab said.

What haunts them most is what Ashik never said. “He never opened up. If he had told us what he was going through, we would have helped him somehow,” Afthab said. “Instead, he smiled, made trip plans, waved goodbye only to disappear in the dark alone,” Afthab said.