One arrested for Aman Committee chief’s murder, but motive still unknown

MUMBAI, AUGUST 2: Police have achieved their first big breakthrough in the sensational killing of Aman Committee president Wahid Ali Khan...

MUMBAI, AUGUST 2: Police have achieved their first big breakthrough in the sensational killing of Aman Committee president Wahid Ali Khan with the arrest of a prime accused, Shaikh Ayub Shaikh Ahmed, on Sunday. Ayub is believed to be one of the two main assailants who opened fire at Khan on the staircase of his office building at Crawford Market on July 23.

Deputy commissioner of police, detection, Sunil Paraskar said: “Shaikh is an associate of Chhota Shakeel and has admitted his role in the killing.” Police are unwilling to disclose details about the exact nature of his role in the killing, but though they claim he is not one of the two shooters who pulled the trigger, they maintain Shaikh was present at the spot at the time of the killing.

Shaikh, who was arrested from Chembur, is a rickshaw driver by profession. He is also allegedly a drug-addict, which is how he got inducted into the world of crime. He had been arrested earlier for many petty crimes, including vehicle thefts.

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“We hope Shaikh’sinterrogation will lead us to a few more associates of Shakeel,” said a senior police officer at the crime branch. However, the motive behind the killing is still unknown, the officer added.

Police investigations zeroed in on the Shakeel gang because Shakeel had earlier threatened Khan and his brother Farid Khan alias `Latest.’ The two had then been given security cover by the police.

Khan’s killing is suspected to have political overtones as it came in the midst of the fluctuating political equations of Muslim society. The Nationalist Congress Party-Samajwadi Party combine had tried to woo Khan as he had sizeable clout in the Muslim community, but Khan preferred to keep his distance. Despite the decision of several Muslim organisations to support the NCP-SP alliance, Khan went ahead and pledged support to the Congress in general and Murli Deora in particular. This move was disapproved by significant sections of Muslim society, and it led to Shaikh’s killing, it is suspected.

Many Muslim organisations,and also political parties, had raised a lot of hue and cry after the killing and also demanded that a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry be instituted in the case. Following such demands, the investigation was shifted from M R A Marg police station to the crime branch.

Shaikh has been remanded to police custody till August 17.