The body of the 40-year-old doctor, who had gone missing from his nursing home near Mahalaxmi Crossroads in Paldi late on Friday, was found at a deserted place near a prominent cloth factory at Piplaj, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Vatva police. The body bore eight stab wounds (six on chest and two on hands).

“Investigations are underway and nothing concrete can be said at this point,” said Inspector A R Parmar of Vatva police .

A 30-year-old woman, Tilottama Solanki, who had worked as a nurse at Shah’s nursing home — Abhishek Maternity Home — at Bhagwati Complex near Mahalaxmi Crossroads about one-and-a-half-year ago, was accompanying him in his Honda City when he was last seen, the police said.

Solanki, who stays at a working women’s hostel in Paldi, told the police that Shah had offered her lift to the hostel. She said en route, the duo decided to go towards Vasna Barrage. When they were “sitting” at a deserted place on the barrage campus, two masked men allegedly attacked them. While the “attackers” caught hold of Shah, Solanki managed to escape, the police said.

In haste, Solanki left her slippers in the car itself. “She has told us that after running for several kilometres she managed to hitchhike a ride from a scooterist, who was passing by the area around 10.30 pm,” the police added.

According to the police, after reaching the hostel, Solanki thought of intimating the police, as advised by her roommate. The Ellisbridge police, meanwhile, swung into action when Shah’s wife Rita informed them about her husband’s possible abduction around 1 am on Saturday.

Rita, who also specialises in gynaecology, told the police that she panicked when an employee of their nursing home called up at their residence in Pankaj Society in the Bhatta area and asked for Dr Shah.

This person, the police said, told Rita that her husband had left for home around 8.45 pm. “This person asked for Shah at his residence because his cellphone was switched off,” the police said.

After the phone call, Rita contacted friends and acquaintances of Shah and enquired about him. When all her efforts went in vain, she approached the police. The Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) was roped in to help trace Shah. The DCB team found his car abandoned near Nirmanpura village on the Sarkhej-Dholka highway and later spotted his body at Piplaj.

“We are probing all possible angles at this point. Solanki is also under our scanner,” said a senior DCB officer supervising the case.