LJP’s RS choice was accused in Gulshan Kumar murder case

After working as a tailoring assistant in Bandra, he is said to have developed contacts in the Mumbai underworld. He married the daughter of the owner of a huge property in Bandra, started a travel agency and construction and import-export businesses running into crores of rupees.

Police said Ali was named as one of the 19 accused in the 1998 Gulshan Kumar murder case after an approver said that Ali’s travel agency had arranged for his travel to Dubai. Said Rakesh Maria, Joint Commissioner (Crime), Mumbai, “Mohammed Ali Sheikh, an accused in the case who turned approver, said that Ali’s Panama Tours & Travels had arranged his ticket to go to Dubai, where the conspiracy to kill Gulshan Kumar was hatched at the residence of Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Anees Kaskar.”

Maria said Ali was accused of spending Rs 20,000 for the same, and arrested for criminal conspiracy and aiding and abetting the murder. But he was acquitted in April 2002 for lack of evidence. There’s no case pending against him now.

“Police dragged my name in the case as tickets were issued through my agency,” Ali had told reporters when he contested the 2005 Assembly elections in Raxaul on an RJD ticket. He had also mentioned a court case in his affidavit: Case No 34-C/2001, 506/2 of IPC, Bandra East, Mumbai Lower Court. He lost that election, standing fifth in count of votes.

In November the same year, he stood for Assembly elections again, this time on an LJP ticket, from Adapur in the same district, and lost again.

Sources said Ali was close to RJD MPs Raghunath Jha and Magnilal Mandal. Jha had helped him get the RJD ticket in exchange for support when he contested the Lok Sabha election. Mandal is known to have spent his MP funds for laying a road in Ali’s village.