Mysuru healer’s murder: Police suspect role of accused in other cases

An audio clip in a pendrive recovered from one of the accused has brought to light a purported conversation on how acts of murders could be converted into “simple cases of suicide” and how one must “remove those who come on their way, come what may”, police said.

Thiruvananthapuram: The suspects in the killing of a traditional medical practitioner from Mysuru in Kerala may probably have been involved in at least two other cases of abduction and murder in the past, Kerala Police said on Thursday.

The traditional medical practitioner from Mysuru, police said, was abducted and taken to Nilambur, and killed by a gang of nine people led by one Shabin Ashraf after he allegedly refused to share any details of his practices which were popular for treating piles. (HT Archives)

An audio clip in a pendrive recovered from one of the accused has brought to light a purported conversation on how acts of murders could be converted into “simple cases of suicide” and how one must “remove those who come on their way, come what may”, they added.

Five people were arrested from Malappuram and Wayanad districts last week after separate probes into a case of burglary and self-immolation bid outside the state assembly secretariat led police to crack the murder of a traditional medical practitioner, Shaba Shareef (60), who hailed from Mysuru district and went missing from the outskirts of Mysuru two years ago.

Shareef, police said, was abducted and taken to Nilambur, and killed by a gang of nine people led by one Shabin Ashraf after he allegedly refused to share any details of his practices which were popular for treating piles. The accused wanted to start a traditional healing centre.

Ashraf is among those arrested. A search is on to nab the remaining four persons involved in the case, police added.

During the course of investigation, a pen drive containing an audio clip of a purported conversation between Ashraf and his close confidantes was recovered from one of the accused, Malappuram superintendent of police (SP) Sujit Das said.

While most of the conversation appeared to be in code language, which is yet to be deciphered, a part of it was on how a murder case could be turned into a case of “suicide”. The participants in the conversation also spoke about a woman who remained unidentified.

Das said police are now likely to probe two suicides in Abu Dhabi, including the death of Ashraf’s one-time associate M Hakkim, to ascertain the involvement of the accused in the cases.

Hakkim, police said, was found dead with his wrist slit, in his flat in Abu Dhabi five years ago. A senior police official, on condition of anonymity, said they will now approach Abu Dhabi police to get details of these cases.

Ashraf’s finances have also come under police scanner. The accused owns four houses in Wayanad and Malappuram districts and reportedly has property worth ₹300 crore, police said.

Ashraf belongs to a lower middle class family and his father was a mechanic. A class-12 passout, the 42-year-old lived in Abu Dhabi for more than a decade and reportedly owns a restaurant there, police said.

However, reports suggest he was barred entry to the UAE for alleged misappropriation of funds. Besides this, Ashraf is facing two cases – an accident and minor brawl – in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, police said.

Police said that the audio clip also had a purported conversation about explosives and crackers and thus, officials are trying to ascertain if the accused shared any nexus with some fundamentalist outfits.

Besides the accused, police are also looking into the role of a junior level police officer (sub inspector) who had allegedly provided them assistance in the murder of Shareef, an official familiar with the developments said without revealing further details.

Ashraf’s wife is also under scanner as she was reportedly living in the same house in Nilambur where Shareef was held captive. Police said she will also be booked if she was aware of the incident.

Meanwhile, Shareef’s wife, Jebina Taj, said she was shocked to learn that her husband was tortured by the accused before being killed. “I cannot believe he is no more. How can they inflict such a heinous crime on a man who only helped others? And he met with such a brutal murder. Despite the horrendous torture, we were told he did not reveal details of his treatment,” the mother of eight children said.

Shareef, police said earlier, was allegedly tortured by the accused while he was held captive. The accused had also recorded videos of the torture meted out to him, copies of which were found in the seized pen drive, they added. His body was allegedly dismembered before it was dumped into Chaliyar river at Edavanna in Malappuram district.

Recalling the events that eventually led to his abduction, Taj said: “A man came to our house on a motor bike on August 8, 2019, seeking help as his relative was ill. My husband accompanied him on a two-wheeler. When he did not return after two hours, I called him but his phone was switched off.”

“He used to go for pilgrimages unannounced. We thought he must have gone for a long one and we were expecting him to return. All our hopes are dashed,” she added.

While Shareef’s family had filed a missing complaint with Sarawatipura police station immediately after his disappearance, police then had found no leads to solve the case, they said.

After Shareef’s death, the gang’s plan of opening a healing centre fell apart. Its members also gradually fell out with each other and on April 24, four of them burgled Ashraf’s house in Wayanad district. In his complaint at Sulthan Bathery police station, Ashraf said ₹7 lakh, gold worth ₹10 lakh and laptops were stolen from his house.

Two days later, one of the accused – T Ashraf – was arrested from the district.

On April 28, three other members of the gang – Shihabuddin, M Noushad and Zakeer – travelled to the state capital, 465 kilometres away from Sulthan Bathery, and attempted to immolate themselves outside the state secretariat. On being overpowered by police, the trio claimed they were duped by Ashraf and that he was planning to kill them.

The trio also informed police about the healer’s killing and handed over a pendrive, leading police to solve the case.

Police suspect the involvement of more people in the case.

“We have constituted a special team under Nilambur deputy superintendent of police. We will also look into Shabin Ashraf and others’ source of income and property. We suspect the involvement of the gang members in similar other cases,” SP Das said.

All the accused have been booked for murder, illegal confinement, abduction, physical assault among other charges, police said.