Relying on cyber evidence in human sacrifice case, prime accused behaving strange: Kerala Police

PTI, Oct 19, 2022, 7:42 PM IST

Image Credit: ANI

Kochi: The Kerala Police on Wednesday said that it was relying a lot on cyber evidence and was also focusing on the mysterious behaviour of the prime accused in the case of black magic-related human sacrifice of two women in the state recently.

Kochi City Police Commissioner C Nagaraju said there was something strange about 52-year-old prime accused Mohammed Shafi’s behaviour and therefore, they were focusing on that presently.

Speaking to reporters here, Nagaraju said the investigation and evidence collection were going on smoothly and police were getting sufficient cyber evidence.

“Basically, we are relying a lot on the cyber evidence,” he added.

He further said that evidence collection was also going on for recovering personal assets, like gold ornaments or electronic items, of the victims and teams have also been dispatched out of station for gathering evidence.

The police officer also said that nothing Shafi said can be believed and that he had misled the other two accused into committing the crime.

Nagaraju said that police were also examining what were the intentions of the other two accused — Bhagaval Singh (68), a massage therapist, and his wife Laila (59).

On Tuesday, the officer had denied reports that the organ trade mafia was involved in the sacrifice of two women in the state.

The two women were allegedly sacrificed at the residence of the couple at Elanthoor in Pathanamthitta district in two different instances since June, to settle their financial issues and become prosperous, according to the police.

The body parts of the deceased were exhumed from the premises of the couple’s house at Elanthoor village in Pathanamthitta on October 11.

The first woman went missing on September 26 and the probe led to Shafi.

On further questioning, police found the trio had allegedly killed the other victim in a similar manner in June.

The women, who earned their livelihood by selling lottery tickets, were killed to settle the financial issues of the couple and make them rich, according to police.

According to police, Shafi had convinced the couple that human sacrifice would end their woes.