India: Kerala NRI businessman held in shocking murder case of traditional healer

Thiruvananthapuram: Police in Kerala’s Malappuram district claim to have cracked the case of a traditional healer from Mysuru in neighbouring Karnataka state, who had been missing since 2019, stating that the healer was abducted, tortured, murdered, cut to pieces and thrown into a river.

The chilling murder case comes from Nilambur in Kerala’s Malappuram district, with the main accused Shaibin Ashraf, 42 being an NRI industrialist who had business operations in the Gulf.

The victim, Shaba Sharif, 60, was a traditional healer from Mysuru who reportedly had a traditional cure for hemorrhoids. Ashraf allegedly wanted to extract the secret formula of the traditional medicine, which Sharif refused to disclose.

Police believe Sharif was abducted and taken hostage to Ashraf’s house in Nilambur, tortured to make him reveal the formula of the traditional medicine and murdered when he refused to do so despite months of torture.

Accidental revelation

The entire case came to light in the most unusual circumstance, when the gangsters whom Ashraf had hired to abduct Sharif, made a suicide bid in the state capital late last month, alleging that Ashraf was foisting false cases against them.

When they were taken into custody and questioned, the bizarre details of the murder of the Mysuru healer were spilled.

Ashraf reportedly planned to take the formula of the medicinal brew from the healer, and start a clinic of his own. But when the plan did not materialise, his offer of sharing the profits from the clinic with his accomplices fell through. Desperate for remuneration, the accomplices then allegedly burgled Ashraf’s house and Ashraf filed a complaint with the police.

That prompted the frustrated accomplices to attempt suicide in the state capital, which in turn led police to uncover the entire murder case.

Remanded in custody

“Ashraf has been arrested and remanded in custody for 14 days”, Nilambur deputy superintendent of police Saju K. Abraham told Gulf News.

Abraham said according to early information available, Ashraf had been running some businesses in different places in the UAE, in the hotel sector. He said the Mysuru police have been informed about the development, and further investigation is under way.

“So far we have arrested nine persons – five who were involved in abducting Sharif and transporting him to Nilambur, and four others who are believed to have been involved in the murder”, Abraham said.

Police believe that Sharif’s body was cut into pieces, and thrown into the Chaliyar river. Sharif was abducted from Mysuru in August 2019, and is believed to have died following assault and torture in October 2020.