Five Shakeel men held for Sena man8217;s murder

APRIL 25: For the underworld, life has always been cheap. But for former Shiv Sena shakha pramukh Baban Surve, it took Karachi-based gangs...

APRIL 25: For the underworld, life has always been cheap. But for former Shiv Sena shakha pramukh Baban Surve, it took Karachi-based gangster Chhota Shakeel a paltry Rs 5,000 to pick him off the face of the earth.

The city police have arrested five Shakeel for the murder of Surve, who was shot dead near his Malvani residence on Friday. He was the fourth prominent Sena activist to be killed since the Congress-led government took over the reins of the state in October last year and the second strike last week. The body of another shakha pramukh, Shivaji Chavan, was found with bullet holes near Goregaon railway station on Wednesday.

The five gangsters, who have told the police that they were acting at Shakeel8217;s behest, also revealed some startling facts that appear to confirm the theory that the Karachi-based gangster has been trying to create political and communal unrest in the city by targeting the belligerant Sena.

They said they were offered Rs 15,000 to kill Surve, of which Rs 5,000 had already been paid. Shakeel had also intended to use the murder to flex his muscle among potential targets to extort protection money, they said during interrogation.

A special squad comprising Assistant Police Inspector Pradeep Sharma and Sub-Inspector Daya Nayak arrested the five accused from a hideout at Sion on Monday. They have been identified as Mujahid Sheikh alias Raju 21, Iqbal Sheikh 23, Aslam Ali Fazal 29, Asif Sayyed 22 and Samul Dasurkar 19.

Reconstructing the plot, they gangsters said Shakeel had initially contacted Iqbal Sheikh in Mumbra to hire Raju for Surve8217;s murder. Since the shooter was not familiar with the the Malvani neighbourhood, Sheikh8217;s brother-in-law Aslam Fazal was roped in.

Fazal, a cable operator from Malvani, told Raju that Surve was often seen downing liquor at a lonely open ground at Gaikwad Nagar and it would be relatively easy to kill him there. The shooter hired a motorcycle MH02 V 3181 and had been pretending to learn to ride the vehicle there since Wednesday. The ploy worked and on Friday he halted his bike in front of Surve and shot him at point blank range. A friend of Surve, Shivkumar Bajaj, who was with him at the time, was also killed in the firing.

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Raju was a small-time plumber from Assam, who migrated to Mumbai late last year. He was introduced to Chhota Shakeel by one Salam. He operated from Antop Hill. Iqbal Sheikh, Sayyed and Dasurkar were residents of Mumbra.

The raids were conducted under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police Pradip Sawant and Joint Commissioner of Police Crime D Shivanandan.