Two murders, and more planned? Telangana Police probe couple living on ‘borrowed’ lifestyle

As per the investigation report, while Mahbub was last seen on March 27, with a complaint being lodged at Yalal Police Station on March 31, Abida disappeared on May 5, and a missing complaint was lodged at Basheerabad Police Station on May 9.

After the second missing FIR was lodged, police started connecting the dots. With the phones of both Abida and Mahbub switched off, the first break came on May 15 when another phone they were tracking pinged briefly. Circle Inspector Pravin Kumar Reddy said that while the phone was active only for about 10 seconds, they were able to pinpoint its location to a bus stop outside Tandur town.

“We realised that another phone we were tracking was also active briefly at the same time at the same location. However, there are no CCTV cameras at the bus stop,” Reddy said.

The next crucial clue was that Abida had got onto a bus bound for Tolkatta area in Moinabad. As police scoured the area, they traced Karima and arrested her, followed by Nayeem.

Reddy said Nayeem confessed to killing Abida and Mahbub, and burying their bodies near a farmhouse. “Based on their confession, we exhumed the bodies and have sent them for postmortem,’’ the Circle Inspector said.

The money trail

A relative said Abida, a widow, had put together some savings over a lifetime, including from the Rs 6,000 a month she got as an attendant at an anganwadi in Tandur town. “Karima who lives in the same area used to visit her often and they became friends. She would often ask Abida for money saying it was for some emergency and that she would return it,” says the relative, adding that eventually the money owed by Karima, in small sums, amounted to Rs 70,000.

“Every time Karima came asking for money, Abida told her to first return the amount previously borrowed. But Karima would cajole, beg and plead that she would return the entire amount soon and managed to borrow more,’’ says the relative.

Mahbub, also a widow, lived not far from Abida’s house. Her savings were from the senior citizen’s pension provided by the state government. According to police, she lent Rs 40,000 to Karima.

Investigators believe Karima made friends with the two knowing they were vulnerable and lived alone. Once she had got the money, they say, Karima stopped visiting Abida and Mehbub, dodging their calls. So the two women turned to their relatives for help.

According to police, as the relatives asked around about Karima and Abdul, “they became aware that the duo had borrowed money from several others in the area and were similarly avoiding them”. Officials estimate that the couple borrowed from at least a dozen others, adding that after the case was cracked, eight people have approached police accusing Karima and Abdul of not returning their money either – up to Rs 50,000 each. “We have come to know there may be many others… We are going through missing persons complaints across the district,’’ an official said.

The plan

According to police, Karima and Abdul started panicking when Abida and Mahbub threatened to file police complaints against them.

Roping in Nayeem, they zeroed in on a deserted stretch in a forested area in Tolkatta. In the days leading up to the alleged abduction of Mahbub, they switched off location services on their mobile phones. Then they travelled from Tandur to Moinabad taking a route with minimal CCTV coverage.

Karima reportedly met Abida and Mahbub separately, and told them both she had arranged for money from a relative at Moinabad, and that the relative would give the amount owed only to them in person.

Karima allegedly first convinced Mahbub to travel by bus to Moinabad, 85 km away, without telling anyone. The 65-year-old was told that if word regarding the repayment spread, other lenders may turn up, and she may not get her money. Mahbub was allegedly also instructed to board the bus to Moinabad from a small roadside stop that didn’t have any CCTV coverage.

As per police, after luring Mahbub to a secluded spot they had scouted earlier, they smothered her to death. The two along with Nayeem allegedly buried the body in a shallow grave beside the farmhouse.

A similar sequence was allegedly repeated with Abida on May 5.

“Abdul and Nayeem said they intended to kill all the lenders after luring them to the same area,’’ Inspector Reddy said.

Karima and Abdul

Police say Karima married young, when just 20, around 23 years ago. There were problems in the marriage, allegedly due to her spending habits, and after two children, she and her husband got a divorce 10 years ago.

Karima reportedly started a clothing business, which did not take off and left her in debt. It was then that she met Abdul, another failed cloth trader, and they started living together. Nayeem, who is very close to Karima, spent a lot of time at their house.

With no source of income, the three allegedly fell back on borrowing money, initially small amounts like Rs 5,000 from different people. Police said Karima then came up with the idea of “targeting” elderly women living alone on pensions or life savings.

Lodged at Karankote Police Station, Karima allegedly tried to commit suicide Sunday. She was taken to Tandur Government Hospital, and has since been shifted to NIMS in Hyderabad.