Rourkela: Odisha Police has been alerted that the body of a hotelier from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands may have been dumped in the Brahmani river near Rourkela in late July following a premeditated murder in Tamil Nadu.
According to investigators, the victim, Niamat Ali, 49, co-owner of a hotel in Port Blair, was allegedly strangled to death by his business partner and two accomplices in Chennai July 27. After killing him, the accused are believed to have driven his body across states for over 30 hours before disposing of it in a secluded stretch of the Brahmani river July 28.
The Tamil Nadu Police, with assistance from the Andaman and Nicobar Police, arrested three suspects including alleged mastermind Muntaqueem Ahmed, 31, in Tambaram district of Tamil Nadu October 3. Two additional suspects remain at large.
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“The accused drugged the victim in a car, strangled him with a rope, and transported the body in the vehicle’s trunk,” a senior investigating officer told PTI. “They tied the body with a sack filled with boulders and threw it into the Brahmani river to destroy evidence.”
Authorities said Ahmed and his accomplices were inspired by multiple crime shows and had researched methods online, including how to make chloroform, as part of the plot. Business rivalry is suspected to be the motive behind the killing.
The Odisha Police was informed shortly after the suspects confessed during interrogation. A special team from Tamil Nadu is expected to arrive in Rourkela to assist local officials in recovering the body.
Ali had travelled to Chennai on a business trip July 27 and went missing the same day. His family reported him missing at the Aberdeen Police Station in Port Blair July 28, prompting a multi-state investigation.
Agencies
