Bangalore:
A gruesome murder on May 31, which left the police baffled for a while, was finally solved almost like a detective serial. During a study of the crime scene at Vinayaka Nagar, where Nymathulla (27), was brutally hacked to death with sharp weapons, the police found a severed middle finger beside the body of the victim. The mysterious body part however, did not belong to the victim and was bagged as evidence and the case was dubbed 'Case of Missing Finger'.
Police Inspector Kodandarama, who examined the crime scene, concluded that the severed finger belonged to one of the assailants and all major hospitals and small clinics in and around the city were alerted. The cops also did rounds of all the medical centres hoping to find some clues.
"We alerted all hospitals to tip off the police if anyone approached them for treatment related to a severed middle finger," said Kodandarama. The plan worked and a few hours later, the cops received a call from clinic in Bismillah Nagar in Gurappana Palya informing them about the young man with a missing finger, who had come in for treatment.
A police team swung into action and asked the staff to keep the patient at the clinic till they reached.
Samiullah (23), a resident of S R Nagar was nabbed and a test revealed that the severed finger belonged to him. Samiullah confessed that he was one of the four involved in the murder of Nymathulla. He said Nymathulla was murdered because he had teased a gang member Allahbaksh's sister in December last year.
He informed that his finger was severed while he was murdering the victim, but he fled the scene in a hurry and left his finger behind. His confession also led a team of cops to Denkanikote in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, where the other three accused were hiding in a relative's house.
Assistant Commissioner of Police M I Jameel said, "The prime accused in the case, Allahbaksh, is a habitual offender. He is an arch rival of Nymathulla and several confrontations have occurred in the past 10 years."
The cops informed that the deceased was also a history-sheeter and had 18 cases registered against him. The police have arrested Allabaksh, Samiullah, Saleem Khan and Riyaz Pasha and recovered four swords, a chopper and a motorcycle used to execute the murder.