“Jawad’s brother had floated an investment firm that attracted large sums from local residents, both Hindus and Muslims, by promising abnormally high returns. After several fraud cases were registered and small investors began confronting the family to recover their money, the family left Mhow in 2001,” a senior local police source told TNIE on Thursday.

While Jawad’s brother faced charges related to investment fraud, one of his stepbrothers was accused in a murder case that occurred during a Muslim religious procession around 2008–2009. The stepbrother was arrested and jailed but was later acquitted, reportedly after a compromise was reached with the complainants.

Residents of Mhow’s Kayastha Mohalla recall Jawad as a well-read and meritorious student in the 1990s. He completed his B.Tech from the Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS) in Indore.

“He (Jawad) was a brilliant student who also ran coaching classes in Mhow during his youth. I still remember him participating in, and winning, a quiz show on Doordarshan while he was in college,” said a local resident who requested anonymity.