Mangaluru. Mumtaz Ali, businessman brother of former Mangaluru MLA Mohiuddin Bawa, committed suicide by jumping into the Phalguni river after allegedly getting trapped in a ‘honey trap’. The police have intensified their search by issuing a lookout circular against six people including the woman accused in the case. Police said that the body of Ali (52) was recovered from the mouth of Falguni river on Monday after a 12-hour search.
Police Commissioner Anupam Aggarwal told a press conference here that a Lookout Circular (LOC) has been issued against six persons against whom the police had registered an FIR on the complaint of the family in the case of Ali’s suicide.
He told that Mumtaz Ali, allegedly trapped in ‘honey trap’, reached Kullur bridge in his BMW car on Sunday morning and from there he jumped into the Phalguni river. Aggarwal said that an FIR was lodged at Kavur police station in connection with the matter.
Aggarwal said, “After the body was recovered, we have added the section of abetment to suicide in this case. We will investigate further. All the six people named in the FIR are currently absconding. Our team is searching for him and hopefully we will catch him soon.” Aggarwal said, “Mumtaz Ali’s family has filed a complaint at Kavur police station alleging that she was being systematically blackmailed by six people in a ‘honey trap’. The family has alleged that these persons were continuously blackmailing them through the video in which Ali is seen with a woman.
According to the police, before committing suicide, Ali sent a ‘voice message’ to his family group on WhatsApp in which he revealed that he had already paid Rs 50 lakh to the accused and was planning to pay an additional Rs 25 lakh later. A check was also issued. The accused were continuously pressurizing Ali to give more money and threatening to make their alleged videos public if their demands were not met.
The Commissioner said, “In his voice message, Ali has taken the names of many people including accused Sattar. We are thoroughly investigating the entire matter.” On Sunday, examination of CCTV near Kullur bridge revealed that Mumtaz’s BMW car first collided with a private bus near the MCF gate, after which he returned to Kullur bridge and then jumped into the Phalguni river.
Aggarwal said that the police has issued a lookout circular against all the six accused persons, so that they cannot leave the country. He said that the accused woman Rahmat and other accused have been identified as Abdul Sattar, Shafi, Mustafa, Shoaib and Sattar’s car driver Siraj. Ali was a prominent businessman and chairman of ‘Misbah Group of Educational Institutions’ and an influential person in the local community.