Rajkot: A week after he went missing, the body of a 47-year-old real estate businessman from Morbi was found on Thursday, buried in a closed factory compound, revealing what police say was a planned killing tied to a land dispute.Tajmohammad Bhatti, a resident of the Vishipara area in Morbi, was last seen on Feb 19. His family said he left home with an acquaintance, Balu Aghara, to discuss a land deal. When he did not return and his phone stayed unreachable, the family filed a missing person complaint at B Division police station on Feb 21. On Thursday, during his questioning, Aghara gave details that led police to a coal factory on Pipli Road. In the presence of an executive magistrate, doctors and senior officers, police dug up a shallow grave. Human skeletal remains, pieces of cement sheets and charred wood were found. In an FIR filed by Bhatti’s 22-year-old son, Riyaz Bhatti, it is alleged that a financial dispute was the motive. The FIR states tensions had risen over an earlier land deal and a recent transaction in which Tajmohammad took Rs 5 lakh from an associate, Thobhan Aghara, to help close another property deal. Seven persons have been named in the FIR: Balu Aghara, Jitesh Jhalariya, Ramesh Aghara, Vishal Waghadia, Bhavesh Aghara, Jaydeep Shersiya and Thobhan Aghara. They have been booked under Sections 61(2), 103(1), 238 and 54 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Investigators say Bhatti was lured to a farmhouse near Bhadiyad, where he was beaten with sticks and plastic pipes. After his death, the body was taken to the factory on Pipli Road, burned with wood and diesel, then buried and sealed with a concrete slab. Morbi city deputy superintendent of police J M Aal said forensic teams are examining the remains and other items recovered at the site. Police say work is underway to arrest those named in the FIR. The case has unsettled Morbi’s business circles and stirred concern about rising disputes linked to high-value land deals.
