Malappuram: The Manjeri Additional District Court on Thursday found three accused guilty in the murder of Mysuru-based traditional medicine practitioner Shaba Sherif. First accused Shaibin(37), second accused Shihabudeen (39) and sixth accused Nishad (32) were convicted in the case.

However, the court acquitted nine other accused including Shaibin's wife Fasna and retired Sub Inspector Sundaran in the case. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on Saturday.

The Special Investigation Team had named 15 people as accused in the case. Among them, Fasil died in Goa, while one suspect remains at large.

Although the police failed to recover any remains of Shaba from the river, the DNA result of a hair strand found in Shaibin’s car became crucial evidence in the case. The statement of the seventh accused, Thangalakath Noushad, who turned approver, also helped the police present strong evidence against Shaibin.

Public Prosecutor EM Krishnan Namboothiri congratulated the police for successfully proving the charges against the accused. He acknowledged that the case was a challenging one.

Malappuram SP R Viswanath told the media that the verdict is a proud moment for the Kerala police. He emphasised that despite the absence of a recovered corpse, the police were able to prove in court that Shaba was brutally murdered.

Former Malappuram SP Sujith Das, who led the investigation, expressed satisfaction with the court’s judgment. Calling the verdict "historic," he said that the judiciary has sent a strong warning to criminals involved in ‘Drishyam’-style murders. He further noted that the police had gathered extensive scientific evidence to establish the murder case.

"The mitochondrial DNA of the victim was extracted from a hair strand recovered from the culprit’s car. This DNA result was the key piece of evidence in the case," said the official.

The murder, which took place in 2020, came to light in 2022 following the suicide attempt of three accused in front of Kerala Secretariat.

The case
Shaibin Ashraf, a businessman in Nilambur, abducted Shaba Sherif (60) from Mysuru in August 2019 and kept him hostage at a house in Mukkanda. Shaba was tortured in captivity and murdered in October 2020. Later, his body was chopped, and the pieces were thrown into the Chaliyar River in Nilambur.

According to Shaibin’s accomplices, he abducted the traditional medicine practitioner to access the ingredients of natural medicine for haemorrhoids. The brutal murder came to light after police nabbed Shaibin's three accomplices- Zakeer, Noushad and Salim for threatening self-immolation in front of the Kerala secretariat. While attempting suicide, they were heard raising serious allegations against Shaibin and revealed Shaba's mruder.