Pathanamthitta: In a rather bizarre turn of events, the police on Friday traced Naushad whom they suspected was murdered by his wife.
Police traced the Pathanamthitta resident, from Idukki district's Thodupuzha, who had reportedly gone missing from his home in Kalanjoor, a year and a half ago.
Naushad told the press that he didn't notice the reports on his disappearance and that he had no idea about his wife's claims about his murder.
"I fled Pathanamthitta after frequent quarrels with my wife. The residents near my wife's place assaulted me when I attacked her in an inebriated state. I fled out of fear," he said adding that he did not own a mobile phone.
Thodupuzha police traced Naushad after receiving information on the missing person's presence at a house in Kuzhimattom area in Thodupuzha.
He was employed in a rubber plantation at Thommankuthu for over a year; reportedly his co-workers intimated the police.
Naushad, who is currently at the office of the deputy superintendent of police in Thodupuzha, will be taken to Pathanamthitta soon.
Reports on Naushad made headlines when police booked his wife Afsana on suspicion of his murder. On Thursday, Afsana told police that she had murdered Naushad during an interrogation on the man missing complaint lodged by Naushad's father. His parents expressed happiness over the good news.