Lucknow146;s link with Mumbai underworld

Two days after nabbing six alleged alleged operatives of underworld dons Chhota Rajan, Abu Salem and Ejaz Lakdawala in Lucknow, the Special ...

Two days after nabbing six alleged alleged operatives of underworld dons Chhota Rajan, Abu Salem and Ejaz Lakdawala in Lucknow, the Special Task Force STF today claimed to have busted a network of arms dealers with the arrests.

According to STF sources, interrogation of those arrested revealed these dealers were collecting weapons like .9 mm pistols and .32 revolvers from Bihar and supplying them to underworld gangs in Mumbai.

8216;8216;Pistols of .9 mm bore are available in Munger at Rs 10,000. These are in high demand among the Mumbai underworld. Notorious gangsters pay about Rs 40,000 for each pistol. The price of .32 and .38 bore pistols is around Rs 7,000 each in the illegal arms markets of UP and Bihar. They are sold to Mumbai-based criminals for about Rs 30,000,8217;8217; said an STF source. Two of the six arrested have been identified as Mumbai gangsters Rajesh Kumar Kamble and Chand Mohammad. STF officials said that Kamble was one of the main link between the criminals of Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, a two-member team of the Mumbai Police reached here today to interrogated the arrested gangsters. An inspector heading the team confided that Kamble was the main accused in the murder of an MLA, Ziauddin Bukhari, in 1993.

8216;8216;He killed the MLA in Dongri area of Mumbai in 1993. Earlier, Kamble was an active member of the Arun Gawli gang. He was absconding for the last one decade. His presence in Lucknow is really surprising. He may be a link between the UP arms dealers and Mumbai contract killers,8217;8217; said the inspector.

Salem alleges torture, claims confession under duress

MUMBAI: Extradited gangster Abu Salem was today remanded to further police custody till January 17 even as he alleged physical torture by the anti-terrorist squad of Mumbai Police, claiming that the confessional statement he made in 1995 Pradeep Jain murder case was under duress. Soon after Salem8217;s allegation, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam claimed that some mediamen had been asked to tape record the allegations made by the gangster against police in the courtroom. Nikam8217;s claim prompted designated judge P V Bavkar not only to seal the courtroom, but also ask ATS officials to frisk mediamen to check for any recording device. The frisking yielded nothing objectionable.

Salem who was produced before the special TADA judge as ATS wanted his further custody in the Jain murder case, alleged he was beaten by the agency. ATS officials used a leather belt to torture him, Salem claimed. As a result of the test, Salem claimed he had started developing acute pain in the head. 8212;PTI