Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Apr 10: In connection with the gruesome 2014 double murder case that took place in a rented house in Attavar, the first additional district and sessions court has found three accused guilty of the crime. The quantum of punishment will be announced soon.
The convicted individuals are Mohammad Muhajir Sanaaf (34) from Cherkala in Kasargod taluk, A. Mohammad Irshad (35) from TV Station Road in Anangur, Kasargod, and A Mohammad Safwan (35). The victims in the case were Nafeer and Faheem.
It may be recalled, Nafeer had reportedly brought gold bars illegally from abroad, and Faheem was his friend. The accused conspired to murder the duo following a dispute over the proceeds from selling the smuggled gold. On May 15, 2014, land measuring 10 cents was purchased in Badiadka village, Kasargod using the money earned from the gold sale and registered in the name of Safwan. A plan was then hatched to lure Nafeer and Faheem to the location and kill them, later burying their bodies in a pit dug at the site.
The trio rented a house in Attavar on May 15, 2014. The following day, they brought Nafeer and Faheem to the rented house in a car, pretending to be friendly and living together. They had already bought knives to carry out the murder. On the morning of July 1, 2014, while the victims were fast asleep in one of the rooms, the accused stabbed them to death.
After committing the murder, the bodies were transported in a car to the previously purchased plot where pits had been dug in advance to bury the victims. To destroy evidence, the accused cleaned the crime scene and disposed of the blood-soaked mattresses and clothes into the Chandragiri River in Kasargod.
On July 6, while carrying more items related to the crime in a black garbage bag, the accused were caught near Mahakali Padpu by then-inspector Valentine D’Souza and later produced before then-station house officer Dinkar Shetty of the South Police Station. In the presence of the Kasargod tahsildar, the police exhumed the buried bodies from Shankarnakadu in Badiadka and conducted a post-mortem. They also recovered around 2.5 kg of gold sold by the accused and an additional 200 grams from the accused’s residence during the investigation.
Dr Mahabala Shetty from the forensic department of K S Hegde Hospital, Deralakatte led a team to conduct the post-mortem. A total of 47 witnesses were examined, and 97 documents were marked as evidence. The verdict was delivered by Judge Mallikarjuna Swamy H S.
On behalf of the prosecution, retired public prosecutor Raju Poojary cross-examined 14 witnesses, while government prosecutor Judith Olga Margaret Crasta examined the remaining witnesses and presented the arguments.