Shivamogga police have arrested three persons, including an Armed Reserve Sub-Inspector (ARSI), on the charge of hatching a conspiracy to murder a person and attempting to embroil another person in a drug case allegedly for social media posts criticising an independent church based in Thrissur, Kerala.
The arrested persons are Wilson James, 55, ARSI and a resident of Shivamogga, Alex alias Alexander, 42, of Bengaluru, and Afroz Ahmed, 37, of Bengaluru. A team of Shivamogga police has gone to Kerala as part of the investigation.
On July 17, the police received information that a person was carrying 2.3 kg of ganja (marijuana) in a bus going from Mangaluru to Ballari via Shivamogga. A team of officers stopped the private bus near Thirthahalli and searched the vehicle. They found a parcel of ganja. The police questioned the person seated close to the parcel.
“Upon inquiry, it was found that there was a conspiracy to frame Ajeel, 37, a resident of Kerala and a passenger on the bus, on the charge of possessing ganja. Further investigation revealed that ARSI Wilson James and Alexander hatched the conspiracy to frame Ajeel,” said Shivamogga Superintendent of Police B.M. Laxmi Prasad, on July 25.
Ajeel was earlier a disciple of an independent church based in Thrissur in Kerala. Recently, he left the organisation and began posting comments on social media criticising the church. “Alexander and Wilson James were involved in the conspiracy to embroil Ajeel in a drug case. Alexander had transferred ₹1 lakh to Wilson for the task,” said the SP.
Besides that, the two accused had conspired to murder Sajju Francis, 42, also from Kerala, for similar reasons. They had contacted Afroz Ahmed to murder Sajju Francis. They allegedly gave Afroz ₹80,000 in cash as an advance to execute the murder.
“A team has gone to Kerala to probe the case. We have sought the support of Thrissur Superintendent of Police in the investigation,” the SP added.
