Five more arrested for Azad Maidan violence

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested five more persons in connection with the Azad Maidan riots. The latest arrests by the Crime Branch takes the total number of accused to 48. Crime Branch sources said that at least 22 more persons were yet to be nabbed in connection with the case,and that police teams are on the lookout.

The arrested have been identified as Javed Alam Shaikh (29),Sameer Mohammed (37),Maujir Deshmukh (37),Abdul Khalid (42) and Ghulam Shaikh (33). Crime Branch officers said that all five persons are residents of the J J Marg area of south Mumbai.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Niket Kaushik said,“The Crime Branch nabbed them after we got evidence to suggest their involvement.” Police also called several Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking conductors and bus drivers to ask them if any of the arrested persons were the ones who had pelted stones during the violence.

Crime Branch sources said that CCTV recordings and other evidence collected by the police suggested that as many as 22 more persons could be arrested in connection with the violence.