Kerala ‘human sacrifice’ case: Accused’s land to be dug up to look for bodies, say cops

The special investigation team (SIT) probing the alleged human sacrifice case in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district will excavate the land belonging to one of the accused in Elanthoor village to “find if more bodies are buried there”, an official familiar with the matter said.

Police have arrested three people identified as Mohammad Shafi and Bhagaval Singh, his wife Laila for the murder of two women, identified as Padma and Roselin.

An SIT official said that after sustained interrogation they suspect “more killings have taken place.”

“All three accused are not revealing anything substantial in this regard. But we doubt the worst as the main accused Mohammad Shafi alias Rasheed had travelled across the state in search of possible victims,” said the SIT official who did not want to be named.

The official added that service of a trained police dog squad will also be availed to excavate the land.

Earlier in the day, the SIT team had raided Shafi’s house and hotel in Kochi.

During investigation, Shafi’s wife Nabeeza reportedly said that he had given her ₹40,000 in September last week and told her that he got the amount “after disposing one of his old vehicles”, the official citied above said. Later, police had also found that he had mortgaged the gold retrieved from his second victim, Padma, after allegedly killing her.

During the course of investigation, police also recovered 40 sovereigns of gold from a pawn broker in Ernakulam.

Earlier, police had decided to re-open all women missing cases in Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta districts dating back to last five years in the wake of the killings.

A senior police official said in five years, 12 women missing cases were reported from Pathanamthitta and 14 from Ernakulam districts. He said special officers will be deputed to probe the cases.