4 members of Dawood Ibrahim gang nabbed from Jama Masjid

On interrogation, the suspects disclosed that they were waiting for a sophisticated weapon to be delivered to them before setting out to shoot some persons in Mumbai. They disclosed that they were to reach the metropolis and contact a person code-named Papa over the phone who would identify the target to be eliminated.

Preliminary investigations are said to have revealed that the accused were sent by Abid Qureshi, a resident of Muzaffarnagar who frequently visited the gang’s Dubai-headquarters. For successfully carrying out the task, the accused were promised Rs 2 lakhs and a Dubai-visa from Zargam Zaidi, a Dubai-resident and allegedly a member of the Dawood gang. The accused reportedly often spoke to Zaidi from their hotel.

After apprehending the duo, the police kept a close watch on the room. This resulted in their apprehending a man who tried to enter the room around 10.45 p.m. A loaded English revolver, 10 cartridges and cash amounting to Rs 68,000 was recovered from Mahawat Ali’s possession who reportedly told the police that he was a resident of Gole market and that one Salim had asked him to deliver the arms and cash to the two youths.

He was booked under the Arms Act. Ali is also said to have disclosed that a Abid Qureshi was expected to visit the hotel sometime soon, on the basis of which the police were able to net him last night from the same hotel. A loaded country-made revolver and five live cartridges were allegedly recovered from his possession.

On sustained interrogation, Abid is said to have confirmed that Zargam Zaidi was the master-mind behind the conspiracy. He is evidently a fairly important member of the Dawood gang and wanted to kill Mansoor, a businessman operating in Mumbai. It was he who had asked Abid to hire the two killers. According to DCP (Central) Ajay Kashyap, “Preliminary investigations reveal that the gang intended to kill the businessman because he apparently refused to pay an extortion amount. Further investigations are on.”