Top criminal lawyer Kishore Sutrale shot dead

MUMBAI, FEB 17: Well-known criminal lawyer Kishore Sutrale was shot dead by an unidentified gunman of the Chhota Shakeel gang in his grou...

MUMBAI, FEB 17: Well-known criminal lawyer Kishore Sutrale was shot dead by an unidentified gunman of the Chhota Shakeel gang in his ground-floor office at Ramkrishna Apartments near Babhai Naka, Borivli, late on Tuesday night.

Sutrale 41 was sitting in his office with three of his clients at around 11:20 pm, when the gunman opened the window behind the lawyer8217;s swivel chair and fired at him from close range. The bullet which pierced his back below the nape exited from his chest.

The lawyer8217;s wife Krupa rushed from their home upstairs and took him to Bhagwati hospital, but Sutrale was declared dead before admission. On the basis of Krupa8217;s suspicion, police picked up two men from their residence at Jogeshwari early this morning. The two persons who have been detained are Raju Bhatkar, a former detenue under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Persons Act MPDA and one Kanade.

According to police, Krupa had expressed the suspicion that Bhatkar had been threatening Sutrale since his release fromjail after completion of the MPDA term. Bhatkar had engaged Sutrale in his bid to save punishment under MPDA, but Sutrale could not prevent the sentence. This enraged Bhatkar, Krupa suspected. Kanade8217;s presence outside Sutrale8217;s office at the time of the murder made him a suspect as well. The two are being interrogated.

Sutrale had been embroiled in controversies due to his involvement in most cases of criminals associated mainly with the Dawood Ibrahim syndicate. In police circles, he was regarded as official attorney for the Chhota Shakeel group.8217;

Ironically, Sutrale who stood for Shakeel gang members throughout his career, was killed by the same gang, according to a senior police officer. The officer said Sutrale was killed by the Shakeel gang because of his betrayal of the ganglord8217;s top confidante Zahoor Makanda. Makanda had approached Sutrale for surrender, but Sutrale failed in securing amnesty for him and Makanda was killed in a police encounter last week.

Additional commissioner of police,north-west region, Rakesh Maria was non-committal. 8220;Nothing can be ruled out. We are making investigations from various angles,8221; Maria said.

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The lawyer shot into the limelight when he stood in defence of prime accused in the Gulshan Kumar murder case, Nadeem Akhtar, last year. He was reportedly instrumental in making police approver Shaikh Mohammed Ali turn hostile.

Sutrale belonged to a family of lawyers. His two brothers Vijay and Ashok are lawyers, while his other two brothers are active in local politics. Sutrale is the second criminal lawyer to have fallen to gangsters8217; bullets. Last year, advocate Ram Shahani was shot dead at Khar.