The Manjeri Additional Sessions Court on Saturday sentenced Shaibin Ashraf (37), the key accused in the murder of traditional medicine practitioner Shaba Sherif, to 13 years and nine months of imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹2.45 lakh.

The second accused, Shihabudeen (39), has been sentenced to eight years and nine months in jail, while the sixth accused, Nishad, has received a jail term of five years and nine months. The court also imposed a fine of ₹60,000 on the second accused and ₹45,000 on the sixth accused.

The court convicted the three accused for the murder of Shaba Sherif on Thursday. According to public prosecutor Krishnan Namboothiri, scientific evidence submitted by the probe team has proven the charges against the accused. 

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

Shaibin, 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 Sherif to obtain the ingredients for natural medicine used to treat haemorrhoids. Shaibin had plans to launch a clinic after getting hold of the medicine formula and reap huge profits. 

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 murder.

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. The Manjery court acquitted nine other accused including Shaibin’s wife Fasna and retired inspector Sundaran in the case.