The Vadodara crime branch has started confiscating the properties registered in the names of members of Bichoo Gang, officials said on Monday. The crime branch has enlisted properties (immovable and movable) worth a total Rs 2.2 crore that will be seized by the government as they have been deemed to be “acquired from the proceeds of crime”. The gang members were booked and arrested under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Act in January 2021— making it Vadodara’s first case under the Act. The development came two years after the crime branch had sought details in writing from the registrar for properties across Vadodara and the revenue department regarding the immovable assets registered in the name of Aslam Shaikh and 26 members of his gang. The assets include a residential property belonging to the alleged gangster Aslam Shaikh alias Bodiyo’s wife, an under-construction building by his accomplice Mohammad Hussain Shaikh, several vehicles belonging to gang members, including four auto-rickshaws. The other properties include a 81.59 square metre plot with a construction area of 40 square meters — a residential property in Tandalja, in the name of Aslam’s wife Rubina. According to the crime branch, the property is worth Rs 44.75 lakh and is occupied by Rubina and her daughter. Another residential property, a ground floor apartment of 37.16 square meters, registered in Aslam and his other wife Shehnazbano’s names, worth Rs 22.98 lakh is also in the list. The police have also seized two immovable properties located in Vadodara’s Diwalipura, which include a farmhouse on a land worth Rs 33.27 lakh and an under-construction project of 32 row houses, called ‘Alhamd Residency’, estimated to be worth Rs 92.57 lakh. Bodiya’s accomplice and co-accused Mohammad Hussain Shaikh alias Munna alias Tarbooz is the “owner” of both properties along with two partners in the under-construction project, the crime branch said. The police, however, added that Shaikh is the only one investing in the project while “the source of income could not be verified”. A vehicle belonging to Shaikh, with a present depreciated worth Rs 7 lakh, will also be seized. Four auto rickshaws worth Rs 2.15 lakh have also been seized. In-charge Deputy Commissioner of Police Harpalsinh Rathod said according to Gujarat Home Department order, considering that the properties have been acquired from proceeds of crime by the gang members, the assets have been confiscated for “further process”. Aslam Shaikh, who was earlier booked nine times under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Act, has 62 criminal cases against him since 1998. The charges against the gang members include murder, attempted murder, abduction and kidnapping, loot, extortion, cheating, fraud and land-grabbing. The gang has been booked Under Section 3 of the GCTOC Act which lays down punishment for organised crime and terrorist activities with death or life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10 lakh.
