Kasaragod: Nearly 20 months after the body of M C Gafoor (53), a wealthy NRI businessman, was exhumed in Kasaragod amid suspicions surrounding his death, police have arrested an occult gang of four, led by a woman who calls herself 'Jinnumma' — an endearing Malayalam term for 'jinn' or genie.

The gang active between Bekal in Kasaragod district and Kannur city offered remedies to the wealthy to ward off spells of bad luck and the evil eye. It also allegedly duped victims with claims of doubling their gold.

The gang was ultimately busted because Gafoor's family, after his burial, discovered that 4,768 grams of gold jewellery was missing from the house. The police picked up the gang following the money trail. "We have written to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to inquire into their source of income," said DySP Johnson K J, who headed the 11-member investigation team formed by the District Police Chief Shilpa Dyavaiah.

On Thursday, December 5, Kasaragod Police arrested Shameema K H (38) alias 'Jinnumma', her second husband Ubaise T M (38), Asneefa P M (34), and Ayesha A (40) -- all from Vidyanagar on the outskirts of Kasaragod town -- for murdering Gafoor and robbing him of 4,768gm of gold jewellery.

"Except for Asneefa, all three are school dropouts. Asneefa is a trained nursery school teacher. But all four are postgraduates in black magic," said DySP Johnson K J, who heads the Kasaragod District Crime Record Bureau (DCRB).

Gafoor's case was pending before Kasaragod District Crime Branch for more than a year. Johnson joined Kasaragod DCRB on October 16 this year. On November 1, Dyavaiah handed over the case to Johnson.

The two officers worked together at Thiruvananthapuram Rural District Police, and the IPS officer knew Johnson's investigative prowess. He helped solve the 11-year-old cold murder case of Divya and her two-year-old daughter Gouri, who were allegedly killed by her live-in partner Mahin Kannu in Tamil Nadu's Colachel; and also cracked the murder case of Sharon Raj (23) by arresting his girlfriend S S Greeshma in 2022.

In Gafoor's case, the needle of suspicion was always on 'Jinnumma' and Ubaise, but the police did not have anything concrete to pick them up. Gafoor, who owned four supermarkets in Dubai and Sharjah, was found dead in his house at Poochakkad near Bekal Fort in Kasaragod's Pallikkare grama panchayat at 5.30 am on April 14, 2023, a Friday.

The day before, he had dropped his wife Sharifa and youngest daughter Fathimath Rahma at her house at Melparamba and returned home around 2 pm. His other daughter, Umme Kulsum, was at the house of her husband, a medical doctor.

The family considered the death peaceful, particularly because it was the holy month of Ramzan, and buried him at the Juma Masjid in Poochakkad by 11 am, even before his son Muzamil arrived from the UAE.

After the funeral, when the grieving family sat down, they spoke of how Gafoor had recently borrowed gold ornaments from 12 relatives, including his daughter Umme Kulsum, daughter-in-law, sister and niece. As there was no financial crisis in the house, they knew he would not pledge the gold. But the ornaments were not to be found in the house.

Initially, Muzamil filed a theft case against Shameema alias 'Jinnumma', who first came into the house to take care of Gafoor's ailing wife. But later, the family filed another complaint raising suspicion over the death of Gafoor, and an FIR was registered on April 24.

On April 27, 2023, police exhumed Gafoor's body and sent the organs for chemical analysis. There was no trace of poison. However, the autopsy report revealed an injury on the back of his head, just above the left ear, said DySP Johnson. The officer said Gafoor's head was banged on the wall, which caused the injury.

In the eyes of the relatives and the family, Shameema and Ubaise were seen as villains. People started talking about Ubaise's presence during Gafoor's last rites of washing even though he was not a neighbour or from the locality. But nobody went public with their suspicions, fearing the wrath of 'Jinnumma'. "She is very influential in our village (Poochakkad). The majority of the houses in our village use her services," an IUML office-bearer had told Onmanorama.

Money trail nailed her
DySP Johnson said that Shameema asked Gafoor to bring his family gold so she could double it using her black magic prowess. Gafoor was killed because he asked for the gold back.

On the night of April 13, 2023, Ubaise, Shameema and Asneefa were at Gafoor's house for a black magic ritual. Shameema goes into a trance and invokes the spirit of a Kannada-speaking girl named Pathutti during the ritual, said police. "But during the ritual, Ubaise banged Gafoor's head on the wall," said an officer. Ayesha helped the three destroy the evidence, said police.

All four have been charged with murder (Section 302 of IPC), murder during robbery (Section 397 of IPC), house trespass (Section 448 of IPC), house trespass for murder (Section 449 of IPC) and Sections 7 and 2(c) of the Drugs and Magical Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act for using "magical remedies" and common intent under Section 34 of IPC.

DySP Johnson said the gang sold off the gold to several jewellery shops. After they were arrested on December 5, police said they recovered 232g of gold from the Aramana jewellery shop at Old Press Club Junction in Kasaragod.

The officer stated that Ubaise and Shameema were using a Brezza car that had been purchased on loan by an individual from Chattanchal in Udma. The car’s owner is suspected to be a potential victim of the gang. However, the owner defaulted on the EMI payments. "Following Gafoor’s death, the outstanding amount of approximately Rs 9 lakh was fully settled," said Johnson.

Police said when they went through the WhatsApp chats of Gafoor and Shameema, they found that he had given her Rs 10 lakh in cash and gold ornaments, too. Police also found that she used to charge Rs 55,000 for an amulet made of paper with an Arabic inscription.

DySP Johnson said Shameema and Ubaise had a criminal past. In 2013, they were arrested in a sextortion case after they took a nude photo with a youth called Muhammed from Cheruvathur. They were demanding Rs 30 lakh from him. "There were several accused in the case, but Shameema and Ubaise were accused of no. 1 and 2. Back then, they were only partners in crime, and Shameema was married to another person," said Johnson.

They were in judicial remand for 14 days. The case fell apart after they struck a deal out of court, the DySP said. However, Shameema had said she was trapped in the case. On her black magic prowess, she said, "I, Jinnumma, have not told anyone that I have special powers." However, she said she had clients from Bekal to Kannur. "No one will say anything negative about me," she had confidently said when her name first cropped up in Gafoor's murder case.