Crime Branch nabs four aides of Chhota Shakeel

“In retaliation,Chhota Shakeel planned to kill another advocate for defending a member of the rival gang. The task was given to two separate teams which came together for the operation. At 10:30 p.m on Monday,Unit 3 of the Crime Branch received a tip-off that some accused were meeting at the Sagar Hotel junction in Nagpada. Acting on the tip-off,a trap was laid and four Chhota Shakeel aides were arrested,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria.

The arrested accused have been identified as Abdul Wahab Faqi (37),Mohammed Salam Haqim (34),Ramesh Warkari (32) and Salam Mohammed Kazi (32). They were produced at the Esplanade Court on Tuesday morning and remanded to police custody till May 15.

The police seized two 9mm pistols,a 0.22 bore revolver,50 live rounds,cash worth Rs 21,000,six mobile phones,a Maruti 800 and a Yamaha motorbike from the accused.

“This is a major breakthrough as they are dangerous underworld elements. They were brought together by gangsters Chhota Shakeel,Faheem Machmach and Gaffar Chickna. The group was planning to leave the city in their vehicles on Wednesday to murder the advocate,” said Maria,who didn’t want to divulge the identity of the advocate targetted.

According to the police,Faqi hails from Roha in Raigad district and was living in Uran. He has six prior serious offences registered against him in the city and in Mangalore. He was convicted in a robbery case and released on bail. Haqim is a resident of Cheetah Camp and originally from Gulbarga in Karnataka. He was arrested for a Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) case in January 2007. Haqim was released in April on bail for an amount of Rs 20,000. Warkari,who is hailing from Beed,is a resident of Behrambag in Jogeshwari. He was the main shooter in the gang that murdered Ali Dari,the owner of local television channel Tehelka Samachar TV News,in Versova in November 2002. He was also arrested in an attempt to murder case registered in Pydhonie police station. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first case,but was released on bail after he filed an appeal against the sentence. Kazi is a resident of Veera Desai Road in Andheri and originally hails from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. He has the same two offences against him as Warkari,and was out on parole.