Cops hope Maratha will lead more to net

SURAT, Aug 1: The arrest of Chhota Rajan aide Dilip Maratha, who has been remanded to Detection of Crime Branch custody for seven days be...

SURAT, Aug 1: The arrest of Chhota Rajan aide Dilip Maratha, who has been remanded to Detection of Crime Branch custody for seven days beginning Sunday, is likely to help the police uncover a number of cases where suparis were given to usurp property worth crores of rupees in prime city locations.

It may also shed light on the builder-criminal nexus, Maratha — also known as Dilip Shankar Kadam, Suresh Sawant and Suresh Patel — was produced before the chief judicial magistrate by the DCB, who sought a 14-day remand. A police team led by ACP I C Raj and PI M G Kaneriya is investigating the case.

In another development, the police arrested city builder Shankar Nebhumal, Ashok Waghani and Rahul Khanna alias Atul Gordhan Patel, after builder Jagdish Tekrawala complained to the Umra police alleging that the three arrested persons — along with Chhota Rajan associate O P Singh, Dharmendra Punjabi and one Raju — had threatened him.

Tekrawala told the police that the six gave a supari to the Chhota Rajan gang, whose members had been threatening him with dire consequences for the past few months. DCB sources said on Sunday that while they were concentrating on crimes committed by builders in association with Maratha, they were not ruling out his involvement in the murder of municipal councillor Nita Satbhaya.