The Kochi Police Commissioner on Wednesday confirmed that they are interrogating the main accused, Muhammed Shafi, in the Kerala human sacrifice case where two women were brutally killed in the name of a ritual after being lured for money.
“Prime accused Muhammed Shafi’s behaviour was extremely mysterious. The investigation is proceeding with a major focus on Shafi. We are also interrogating his co-prisoners during the time when he was behind the bars in some other cases. We are also probing his financial transactions as his finances significantly rose after he was out of prison,” said Kochi City Police Commissioner CH Nagaraju. He said the process of evidence collection in Kochi is “almost completed” adding that they rely on cyber evidence which is important in this case.
The police remand report of the accused mentions the shocking “human sacrifices” were suspected to have been committed as part of a ritual to obtain financial benefits.
The remains of the two deceased women–identified as Padma and Roslin– were exhumed later from pits near the residence of Singh and Laila in the Pathanamthitta district.
According to police, the accused allegedly lured the victims with the promise of money. The remand report stated that the accused allegedly chopped up the bodies of the victims before burying them.
On Tuesday, the police rejected allegations of an organ mafia behind the murder and said that the organ transplant was not possible in unsanitary conditions. It has been suspected that the main accused Shafi misled the co-accused persons in this regard, CH Nagaraju said adding that crucial scientific and technical evidence was available against the accused.
The police have also seized several phones from the accused. The Commissioner also asserted that the main accused used to mutilate the bodies in a butcher’s style.
“There is no indication that there are more victims. Missing cases are being investigated. So far no evidence has been found about the link between missing cases and human sacrifice cases. Several phones have been seized from the accused. Muhammed Shafi, who is the main accused mutilated the bodies. It is done in the butcher’s style.
