Missing man from Villupuram Ashram might have died: CB-CID

CHENNAI: The Crime Branch and Crime Investigation Department on Monday informed a division bench of Madras High Court that a 70-year-old inmate of Anbu Jothi Ashram who was missing from the facility in Villupuram might have died in Bengaluru.

Additional public prosecutor V Muniyapparaj for CB-CID made these submissions, and the bench comprising Justice M Sundar and Justice M Nirmal Kumar was hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by Halideen.

The petitioner had prayed for a direction to produce Zafirullah who was admitted to the Ashram. According to the petitioner, he filed this HCP on behalf of his friend Salim Khan who is the nephew of Zafirullah. Since Salim Khan is in the US, Halideen had filed the petition.

According to the CBCID, it came to their knowledge that Zafirullah was transferred to an Ashram in Bengaluru. However, he left Ashram in Bengaluru. "A dead body which was similar to the Zafirullah was found near a Mosque in Bhadravathi of Karnataka. The body was buried as per Islamic customs. We have the photo of that body," the CB-CID submitted.

It further contended that if the missing person's nephew is coming down to India, the investigation agency could verify whether it was the body of Zafirullah. The CB-CID also pointed out that it had taken the custody of eight persons including the administrators of the Anbu Jothi Ashram and the investigation is undergoing.

Recording the submissions, the bench directed Salim Khan to file his response on March 14 to indicate whether he could come to India to verify the dead body was his uncle.

The alleged irregularities of human trafficking, sexual harassment faced by the women inmates, and other illegalities in the Ashram had come to light after Halideen filed this petition. When he lodged a complaint with the police to find the whereabouts of Zafirullah, the police identified several criminalities in the facility which led the DGP to transfer the case to CB-CID.