Mangaluru, 8 Oct

Mangaluru Police have arrested three people in connection with the death of a businessman, officials said on Tuesday.

The body of BM Mumtaz Ali (52), younger brother of former Karnataka MLA Mohideen Bava, was found in Phalguni river mouth on Monday after 12 hours of search, they said.

Three people, including the prime accused Ayesha Rahmath and her husband Shoaib have been arrested, police said. "Three others who were partners in this blackmailing racket are absconding. They are identified as Abdul Sattar, Shafi Nandavar, and the identity of the other accused is yet to be established," a senior police officer said.

According to police, Ali had been reported missing since Sunday morning and his badly damaged car was found abahe Kulur bridge. Ali, a prominent businessman and chairman of the Misbah Group of Educational Institutions, is a well-known figure in the local community.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Ali was running a college in the city and was generous and helped people who approached him. Taking advantage of this, Ayesha Rahmath had developed an intimacy with Ali and milked him, the police officer said. She used her intimacy with him as a weapon to blackmail him.

She was assisted by her husband, Shoaib Rahmath, in this crime, he said. "Later, Siraj, Abdul Sattar, and Shafi Nandavar joined the racketeers and extracted over Rs 50 lakh from Ali. They had also made a video of Ali playing with Ayesha's children and sent it to his family. Due to this, Ali had been under pressure from his family. The racketeers had recently demanded Rs 2 crore from him," the officer added.