Elanthoor human sacrifice case accused Shafi caught with hashish oil at trial court
Elanthoor case accused Mohammed Shafi was arrested for 6 grams of hashish oil found in his dhoti's waist fold at Ernakulam court, raising security concerns.
Elanthoor case accused Mohammed Shafi was arrested for 6 grams of hashish oil found in his dhoti's waist fold at Ernakulam court, raising security concerns.
Elanthoor case accused Mohammed Shafi was arrested for 6 grams of hashish oil found in his dhoti's waist fold at Ernakulam court, raising security concerns.
Kochi: Mohammed Shafi, the prime accused in the sensational 2022 Elanthoor human sacrifice case, was arrested after 6 grams of hashish oil was allegedly found concealed in the waist fold of his dhoti while he was attending court proceedings in Ernakulam on Tuesday.
The contraband was seized from Shafi (52), alias Manzoor, at the Additional District and Sessions Court–5 premises in Panampally Nagar, which functions from the Kerala Housing Board Building. The incident has raised serious questions over security arrangements at the court premises and how an undertrial prisoner brought from jail managed to obtain narcotics while in custody.
Shafi, a native of Vezhapally, Allapra in Vengola, near Perumbavoor, had been brought from prison by the Kalady police to attend the ongoing trial in the Elanthoor human sacrifice case along with co-accused Bhagaval Singh and his wife Laila.
The trial concerns the alleged abduction and ritualistic murders of Rosly, a native of Alappuzha who was residing in Kalady, and Padmam, a lottery vendor from Kadavanthra.
According to the police, the incident came to light after the day’s court proceedings concluded. While police personnel were escorting Shafi downstairs to the parking area to take him back to prison, they noticed him nervously clutching the madikkuthu (waist fold) of his dhoti, and on inspection they found the drugs.
The escort officers alerted the trial court judge, who directed them to inform the local jurisdiction police immediately.
A team from the Ernakulam Town South Police Station, led by Sub-Inspector Harisankar OS, reached the spot and arrested him.
“The police conducted a personal search of Shafi in the parking lot at around 7.35 pm.
During the search, police recovered two small plastic bottles containing a total of 6 grams of contraband concealed in the waistline of his mundu,” police sources said.
The police seized the substance under a seizure mahazar and formally arrested Shafi at 10 pm on Tuesday.
They have registered a case under Section 20(b)(ii)(A) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, read with Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), based on a suo motu complaint.
Preliminary interrogation has indicated that Shafi allegedly obtained the contraband after visiting a restroom at the court premises. The police suspect that two unidentified persons met him there and handed over the two bottles.
The police are trying to identify the suppliers and determine how the high-profile undertrial prisoner managed to obtain narcotic contraband inside the court complex despite being brought under police escort.
Shafi was subsequently remanded and transferred back to prison custody. The investigation is also expected to examine the circumstances under which the alleged exchange took place and whether any lapse in court-premises security or prisoner escort procedures facilitated the incident.