Muhammad Shafi is the first accused in the Elanthoor case, which concerns the deaths of two women in the Ernakulam region of Kerala in June and September 2022. He was arrested on October 11, 2022 with a married couple from the village of Elanthoor, Bhagaval Singh and Laila. All three were charged in two separate chargesheets filed in January 2023, one for each death. Shafi has not been convicted. The trial before the Additional District and Sessions Court-5 in Ernakulam was still pending in August 2026, and he remains an accused person, presumed innocent until a court rules.
The first case, concerning P., from Ernakulam, was registered as Crime No. 586/2022 at the Kadavanthra police station. The second concerned R., from Kalady, whose death in June 2022 was also charged. On October 11, 2022 Shafi, Bhagaval Singh and Laila were arrested.
On October 12, 2022 the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Ernakulam remanded the three to judicial custody for 14 days. On October 13 the court granted the police custody of the three for 12 days of questioning. The accused challenged that order before the High Court of Kerala, which refused to interfere.
The Kadavanthra case was registered under sections 120B, 364, 302 and 201 read with section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860: criminal conspiracy, abduction in order to murder, murder, and causing the disappearance of evidence, with common intention. The first chargesheet, covering the death of P., was filed on January 6, 2023, on the 89th day after the arrests, in the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Ernakulam. It ran to about 1,600 pages, listed 166 witnesses and 307 documents, and named Shafi, Bhagaval Singh and Laila as accused. It charged murder, rape, abduction, conspiracy, destruction of evidence and further offenses. The prosecution case, as filed, rests on circumstantial, electronic and scientific evidence, as no eyewitness to the deaths is cited.
The second chargesheet, covering the death of R., was filed on January 21, 2023 in the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Perumbavoor by the special investigation team. It runs to about 3,000 pages with more than 200 witness statements and 130 documents. The same three people are the accused. The charges are murder, abduction with intent to murder, criminal conspiracy, human trafficking, theft, destruction of evidence, gang-rape and a further offense. In both cases Shafi is accused no. 1, and Bhagaval Singh and Laila are accused nos. 2 and 3. The charges are allegations only; no court has found any of them proved.
The bail proceedings in the case were brought by his co-accused Laila. On January 4, 2023 the High Court of Kerala dismissed her application for regular bail under section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The court found prima facie material connecting her to the offense and weighed the gravity of the allegations and the risk to witnesses. The High Court dismissed a further application on January 22, 2024 and directed the trial court to proceed without delay. The three accused have been held in custody in Kerala.
The case is tried at the Additional District and Sessions Court in Panampally Nagar, Kochi. In October 2023, a year after the arrests, the trial had not begun. The special public prosecutor first appointed had stepped down, and the government had not yet named a successor.
By August 2026 the trial was under way, with all three accused before the court in Kochi. On August 18, 2026 a separate case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 was registered against Shafi. No verdict has been delivered.
Every statement of what happened in 2022 is an allegation contained in the chargesheets. The prosecution case relies on documents and scientific material and not on eyewitnesses. No finding of fact has been made by any court.
June 2022: the death of R. is later charged.
September 2022: the death of P. is later charged.
October 11, 2022: Shafi, Bhagaval Singh and Laila are arrested.
October 12, 2022: remanded to judicial custody for 14 days at Ernakulam.
October 13, 2022: the court grants police custody for 12 days.
January 4, 2023: High Court of Kerala dismisses Laila's bail application.
January 6, 2023: first chargesheet filed at Ernakulam.
January 21, 2023: second chargesheet filed at Perumbavoor.
October 2023: trial not yet begun.
January 22, 2024: High Court dismisses a second bail application by Laila and directs the trial court to proceed without delay.
August 18, 2026: a separate narcotics case is registered against Shafi.