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The hunt for a Tamil Nadu-registered Maruti Swift doing the rounds of Kumaraswamy Layout has unraveled several plots; a Veer-Zara-like for the romantically inclined; a major-security-breach for the nationalist kind; and ‘why-did-Kasab-use-the-dangerous-sea-route’ for the die-hard cynic.

Three Pakistani nationals – two women and a man – were arrested on Wednesday night from Kumaraswamy Layout, Bengaluru police commissioner Praveen Sood said at a press conference.

All three had procured fake Aadhar cards – by paying Rs 100 each to an agent – and election I-Cards. Their accomplice was a man from Kerala who claims to have married one of the women in Qatar. Kerala police have located his house in Palakkad – neighbours have told them they had no idea that he was in Bengaluru; they thought he was still in the Gulf, said Muneer, Circle Inspector, Ottapalam, Palakkad district.

According to what Bengaluru police have pieced together, the Keralite, Muhammed Shihab (30), had married Samira Abdul Rehman (25) whom he met in Qatar. Samira’s family was allegedly opposed to the alliance since he was an Indian. The two wed nevertheless and Shihab returned to Bengaluru while Samira’s family forced her to return to Karachi. The remaining two, Kashif Shamsuddin (31) and Kiran Ghulam Ali (26), are another love-struck couple and allegedly related to Samira (Kashif is said to be her cousin).



The three are alleged to have slipped out of Karachi, boarded a plane to Qatar, reached Muscat and then arrived at Kathmandu. Shihab was waiting for them at Kathmandu and helped them cross the border into India. The four reached Patna from where they took a train and reached Bengaluru in September 2016. They stayed at a hotel in Koramangala and then took a house on lease on October 1, 2016 (even though the agreement was signed on January 25, 2017). All four were living together and paying a rent of Rs 10,500 even though Shihab was unemployed. Kashif was the only one employed – he was working at a perfume factory in Kumaraswamy Layout.

How it began...

The homicide and burglary unit of the CCB was making inquiries into a possible car theft when they chanced upon Shihab. The owner of the car was traced as Hari Prasad, a Tamilian presently in Qatar and it led to Shihab.

“Shihab claimed Hari Prasad owed him some money and that was why he left the vehicle with him when he went abroad,” said sources.

Shihab apparently worked at a juice shop in Bengaluru as a cashier before he left for Qatar in 2012. There he worked as an office assistant at a private firm and met Samira.
“Both of them claim that Samira was forcefully taken back to Karachi from Qatar by her family members in August 2016. Shihab decided to return to Bengaluru but kept in touch with her and decided to bring her to India,” said sources.


Samira decided to flee from her home in Karachi and since there were restrictions on single women flying out of Pakistan, she decided to take Kashif’s help.

“We are verifying the version of the accused,” said S Ravi, Addl CP.