“In his complaint, the victim’s husband told us that when Yaseen was contacted for the whereabouts of Mishra, he demanded Rs 10 lakh ransom,” says Joint Commissioner, Special Cell, Karnal Singh.

An FIR of abduction and extortion was registered at the Karol Bagh police station on September 11. The same day, the Special Cell “recovered” Mishra from a madrasa in Mangalore and picked up Yaseen from the IBM office in Bangalore.

“When Yaseen did not return from work, his wife called my son Shaji for help. All the friends together investigated and found that the Special Cell had picked up Yaseen. So my son, who had never been to Delhi, came to look for his friend,” says Kunju.

Kunju agrees that his son is “very religious” but asks if it’s illegal to discuss religion.

Yusuf and Yaseen are childhood friends and were together at T K M college for Engineering in Quilon. In 1998, Yusuf left for Bangalore for a job and Yaseen followed a few years later.

Yaseen is married and has a six-month-old child. Yusuf’s wife and six-year-old son are now in their hometown, Aluva. The Special Cell arrested Yusuf on September 14.

“We have arrested Shaji Yusuf for helping Yaseen in the crime,” says Karnal Singh.

Both Yusuf and Yaseen are in judicial custody. Their bail application will now come up for hearing on Wednesday.

... contd.