Bengaluru police to invoke stringent KCOCA against 11 accused in Syed Shabbir murder case

Extortion, property dispute

M Narayan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Electronic City, said the killing stemmed from a long-standing dispute involving extortion and a civil property issue between the victim and the accused. Investigations revealed that Shabbir allegedly exercised dominance in the area and collected ‘hafta’ from several traders, including scrap dealers.

The police said Shabbir had also allegedly targeted a property belonging to the sister of one of the accused, Sunny, located near a mosque in Bandepalya. He was accused of coercing Sunny to give up the land and issuing threats to forcibly construct a compound wall on the property. These repeated threats reportedly led to growing resentment with Sunny and his associates.

Tired of being threatened, the accused allegedly conspired to eliminate Shabbir. The murder, the police said, was meticulously planned over a week at a garage.

On the day of the crime, the accused allegedly threw chilli powder into Shabbir’s eyes and hacked him to death. They fled the spot in an autorickshaw to K R Puram, later abandoning the weapons at another location before escaping by train to different places, including Mumbai, Rajasthan and Hyderabad, the police said.

Special police teams tracked down all 11 accused across multiple states and arrested them over the next few days. Considering the organised nature of the crime and the gangs involved with criminal backgrounds, investigators said KCOCA would be invoked against all the accused.

A senior police officer said further investigation is underway in the case and more arrests are likely.