Even as the police investigation into the discovery of the body of a businessman, S.M. Basheer, 53, of Karakkamandapam, in a rainwater drain at Puthiyathura under the Kanjiramkulam police station limits, is yet to make any headway, unconfirmed reports indicated on Saturday that the Home Department was planning to hand over the investigation to the Crime Branch.
According to sources, this was after the wife of Basheer, Arifa Basheer, approached the Home Minister asking for a detailed investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of her husband late on February 2.
Order likely
An order to this effect is likely to be issued by Monday.
Meanwhile, the police probe into the incident is still revolving around the details of calls made to and from the mobile phone of Basheer, which was mysteriously found around 2 km away from where his body was found.
Physical abuse
According to K.A. Vidyadharan, Circle Inspector, Poovar, who is heading the investigation, the autopsy report revealed no signs of any physical abuse or torture on the body, apart from reiterating that the cause of death was a cardiac arrest.
This was all the more confusing, given the fact that Basheer’s motorbike, on which he had left home on February 2, was found locked and parked near Pappanamcode Junction, not too far from his residence the next day. Incidentally, the police are also trying to locate a friend of Basheer, who is allegedly absconding after the incident, and who has reportedly been mentioned by Basheer’s wife in her statement to the police and also in the petition to the Home Minister.
Whether Basheer had gone to Puthiyathura along with someone or whether someone had taken the body there; how his mobile phone was found two kilometres away from the body; and why he had left his motorbike at Pappanamcode were all unanswered questions still, five days after the body was found.
