The Anantapur Urban Police on December 6 (Wednesday) arrested eleven persons in connection with a murder of a youth allegedly perpetrated by a gang hired by his business partner. Superintendent of Police K.K.N. Anburajan said that the accused seemed to have took inspiration from movies to execute the murder and dispose of the body later.
Shaik Mohammad Rafi and Mohammad Ali, in their 30s, hailing from Anantapur town were known to be close friends. Differences cropped up between them as they blamed each other for the huge losses they incurred in real estate business and export-import trading. Ali reportedly started pestering Rafi for money, besides frequently visiting the latter’s house, and behaving with his family members in an objectionable manner.
Vexed with this, Rafi allegedly decided to eliminate Ali and sought the help of his longtime friend Sivaram hailing from Anantapur town for it.
Modus operandi
Sivaram allegedly hired a four-member gang from Sri Sathya Sai district for the job. The gang reached Anantapur on November 27. As per a plan, the gang allegedly lured Ali to a liquor party at a warehouse belonging to one of the relatives of Rafi. The gang allegedly killed Ali there.
Reportedly inspired by certain scenes from movie “Drushyam”, Rafi, along with his friends and relatives, planned to dispose of the body. With the plan of burning the body in the Nallamala forests at Giddalur in Prakasam district, the accused carried the body in a car on November 27 night. The car developed a snag at Proddatur and some local residents reportedly came forward to help the accused. When they asked Rafi about the body, he told them that it was of a relative who suffered from leprosy.
Later, the accused brought the body back to Anantapur in a private ambulance in the early hours of November 28 and hid at an under-construction house belonging to Rafi. Late in the evening, they brunt the body after dousing it with petrol at a burial ground in the Narayanapuram locality, the SP said.
Meanwhile, Ali’s father Ibrahim Saab lodged a complaint with Anantapur I Town police on December 1. In his complaint, he said that Ali left home on November 27 saying that he was going to Bengaluru and had not returned since.
Acting on the complaint, the police registered a missing case. “A special party was formed to solve the case. After verifying CCTV footage and tracking mobile phone signals and interrogation of suspects, the police arrested the Rafi and his ten aides including three women,” the SP said.
All the accused, hailing from Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts, are in the age group of 23 to 40. The police also seized the car used for transporting the body, two motorbikes, five mobile phones and a laptop from the accused.
