Oman crime: Family members await bodies as Indians' deaths are probed

Muscat: They were expected home this week but now their bodies are awaited.

“We were expecting Muhammed Musthafa and Najeeb Mohammed to be with their families at their home in Cochin, India this week. However, the fate was clearly against us and now here we are, waiting for their bodies,” friends of Muhammed and Najeeb told the Times of Oman on Tuesday. 

Both Muhammed and Najeeb were found dead in Salalah on Sunday morning. Residents found the body of one of them by the roadside and informed the concerned authorities. The other was found dead at his residence.

“Muhammed and Najeeb were very good friends and were doing business together in India for the last 15 years. In Oman, they wanted to start a crusher unit for which they conducted a trial on Saturday. The next day, they were found dead,” Anas Mohammed, a cousin of Najeeb, told the Times of Oman from Kuwait.

The crusher unit was supposed to start production by next week.

Anas, however, was clueless about what had



happened. 

“We don’t know anything about how they died. Their family members will be reaching Oman to find out what went wrong. At present, they are trying to get visas at the earliest.

“Musthafa and Najeeb had partnered two others (one Indian and an Omani citizen) to start this crusher plant in Thumrait. Both the friends used to visit Oman regularly on visit visas. They had worked very hard for the last one year but sadly they couldn’t see the crusher plant working at Thumrait,” a common friend of the two deceased said.

Social workers in Oman said their bodies will be sent to India once investigations are over. “We are waiting for the family members to arrive from Cochin in India,” they said. Relatives and friends, however, dismissed the idea that something had gone wrong between both the friends. 

“They were so close to each other and were friends for a long time. So we don’t think anything could have gone wrong between them,” they said.

Police investigation into their death is on.