Mumbai, Jan 28: Underworld don Chhota Rajan's key associate Vinod Matkar, one of the ten most wanted gangsters in the city, was shot dead by police at Khar early this morning.Acting on a tip-off, a police squad under assistant inspector Pradeep Sharma laid a trap near Hotel Kings Palace on Linking Road, Khar. At around 1 am, the police team saw a man alighting from an autorickshaw and walking towards the hotel.According to API Sharma, the informant immediately recognised the man as Vinod Matkar, and he was asked to surrender. However, the gangster fired four rounds at the squad, Sharma said.In the subsequent exchange of fire, Matkar was hit in the leg and chest. He was rushed to Bhabha Hospital, but was declared dead before admission. A .38 Webly Scott revolver and two live cartridges were recovered during a panchanama.Police records have revealed that Matkar was involved in at least 32 serious offences, including 12 murders, in the city. The first case registered against him was at Kalachowkipolice station in 1991.Deputy commissioner of police (zone VII) K L Prasad said Matkar graduated to serious crime after he was named in a murder case at Khar in 1997. Thereafter, he was involved in at least a dozen murder cases in Mumbai, Prasad said.Sharma, who had been allegedly soft on gangsters affiliated to the Chhota Rajan gang, has disproved the allegations by the act of killing Rajan's top aide. When asked about Sharma's alleged amnesty to Rajan men, DCP Prasad dismissed the charge as baseless. ``Police work on the periphery of crimedom and criminals. This does not mean they get associated with gangsters. All such allegations against Sharma are false,'' he maintained.Some of the murders recently committed by Matkar were those of Mirza Dilshad Baig at Nepal, Haji Kapadia at Khar, Asmat Patel at Kashimira and Shabbir Sheikh at Oshiwara. Police have also named him in the murder of Rajan Pillai at Sahar, Inderpal Singh at Dindoshi, Manohar Jingare at Kalachowki and Irfan Dadi at Bandra.Policesources informed Matkar entered the world of crime as a small-time robber. He soon became a gangleader before graduating as a shooter for the Chhota Rajan outfit, sources added.He was Chhota Rajan's second-in-command after dreaded hitman Rohit Verma. The duo formed a deadly combination, police said.The other police officers who effected the encounter were Prakash Bhandari, Daya Nayak and Arun Borude.
