Underworld Hand In Four Of Seven Killings

Spate of shootouts have cops, citizens on edge

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: It seems the underworld has resurfaced in the city. In the last five months, seven shootout cases have been reported in Mumbai, four of which were designed and executed by the underworld.

The crime branch claims to have arrested suspects and solved all the cases, but the frequency with which they have occurred has made people feel unsafe.

While the Chhota Rajan gang is being blamed for two major killings this year, the Dawood gang has till now kept itself away from the shootouts. The main problem, though, for cops and citizens is that splinter groups are trying to make a base in the city. For instance, in April, four members of the Ravi Pujari gang were arrested by the crime branch for two shootout cases that claimed two lives. According to the police, the four captured gangsters were involved in the shootouts in Andheri on March 14 and Vashi on February 14. “In the Andheri case, a construction site supervisor and an engineer were shot dead, while a site engineer was injured in firing at Vashi’s sector 17,” said a crime branch officer.

Rajan’s gang was involved in both the high-profile murders this year. Shooters killed Iqbal Kaskar’s bodyguard in broad daylight on Pakmodia street. Kaskar is underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s younger brother. “Initially, we suspected that Kaskar was the target. After we arrested the culprits, we found out that the Rajan gang wanted to bump off someone else, but Bael was killed by mistake,” said a crime branch officer. However, the police are worried that the D-company may decide to retaliate and there could be blood on the streets again, like in the ’80s and ’90s. “We have been keeping a watch andwhoever tries to take the law in his hands will be dealt with strictly,” said the officer.

The Rajan gang is also believed to be behind the murder of journalist J Dey, who was shot down in Powai on June 11.

The crime branch claims to have crippled most of the gangs in the city, but accepted that some surviving gang members are still dabbling in crime. “We have solved all the shootout cases and many members of the organized crimesyndicatehavebeen arrested for their roles in the shootouts,” said a senior crime branch officer. “We have arrested more than 16 gangsters this year. Some cases, which were lying unsolved for more than a year, have also been solved. We will not allow the underworld to operate in the city anymore,” said the officer.


SEVEN CASES IN FIVE MONTHS

Feb 28, 2011 | Sanjay Phatak (35), a site engineer at Shah Signature, was injured after two men opened fire at an under-construction building in Sector 17 of Vashi. The shootout was the handiwork of fugitive gangster, Ravi Pujari. Four men were arrested.

Mar 14, 2011 | Site supervisor Yogesh Sule (29) and engineer Shreekant Devarshi (28) of the Sahana Group of companies were at an under-construction site in Andheri when they were shot dead at point-blank range by a man, who later left an envelope containing a phone number of Ravi Pujari. Four gangsters were arrested.

May 17, 2011 | Two shooters pumped five bullets into Arif Bael, the bodyguard of Iqbal Kaskar, at Pakmodia street near Nagpada. Kaskar is the younger brother of don Dawood Ibrahim and Bael was killed outside the former’s residence. The police arrested five persons and said it was the handiwork of Chhota Rajan.

Jun 11, 2011 | Journalist J Dey was shot dead by six persons belonging to the Chhota Rajan gang in Powai. Eight persons have been arrested.

Jun 22, 2011 | Two unidentified assailants fired one round on a 45-year-old businessman, Ismail Suleman Shah, outside an Udipi restaurant, just a stone’s throw away from the Agripada police station. The police have no leads.

Jun 27, 2011 | An unidentified man shot at a petrol pump cashier, Ajay Dube (26) and fled with a bag containing Rs 1.36 lakh. The incident took place on SV Road outside the Santa Cruz (west) branch of Union Bank of India. Dube had gone to the bank to deposit the petrol pump’s earnings.

July 6, 2011 | Unidentified assailants fired three rounds at a steel shop at Girgaum area near Charni road in the evening. Manager Lalchand Bishnoi (35) and his cousin, Ratnaram Bishnoi (40), were killed. The suspects did not steal anything. The police found a 9 mm pistol outside the shop, perhaps thrown by the suspects who fled within seconds of the firing. No arrest has been made yet.

The Times of India, July 13, 2011

Jerome’s safety has jail staff worried

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Convicted naval officer Emile Jerome has a battery of gangsters as neighbours in Taloja jail. The jail authorities are worried about Jerome’s security.
The court had sentenced Jerome to 10 years in prison in the Neeraj Grover murder case. Taloja jail, about 50 km from Mumbai, is fast becoming the new ‘hub’ for the underworld. Most of the dreaded criminals from Arthur Road jail were shifted to this prison.

Jerome, who has been kept at circle number 5, shares his room with three undertrials. They are 1993 serial bomb blasts suspect Riyaz Siddiqui, Abu Salem gang member Hasan Mehndi and navy officer Manish Thakur, a murder suspect. Though, Jerome is a convict, he will not be shifted to Yervada jail. “The state government will go in appeal against the court’s sentence. Therefore, we have decided not to shift Jerome to Yervada as his trial will begin again,” said a senior jail official. Former legislator and gangster, Arun Gawli, who was arrested in April 2008 under MCOCA for allegedly plotting the murder of a corporator, is lodged in this jail. The most recent transfer to the prison is that of gangster Abu Salem.

Jail authorities shifted Salem from Arthur Road to Taloja for “security reasons”. Salem was allegedly assaulted by a rival gang member, Mustafa Dossa, last July. At present, Salem and Gawli are lodged in the ‘anda’ cell in Taloja jail.

According to police sources, those arrested in other sensitive cases are also lodged in Taloja jail. The suspects caught for the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts, Indian Army’s Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay, Swami Dayanand Pandey, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni have also been shifted to Taloja jail. All of them have been lodged in nearby cells.

Moreover, six suspects belonging to a right-wing outfit, Sanatan Sanstha, have also been lodged in
the Taloja jail. These accused had allegedly planted bombs at Thane’s Gadkari Rangayatan and two other places in the state.

The arrival of gangsters in the jail has created a “law and order problem”, said a policeman posted in Taloja jail. “We fear that clashes will break out between the gangsters,” said a senior police officer.

He added, “We have reviewed security at the jail and hope there will be no trouble. We will keep tabs on everyone and try to foil any violent designs some inmates may have,” said a senior jail officer.

The Times of India, July 11, 2011

2 lakh bribe lands I-T chief in CBI net

Ramful Meena (L) and U A Pai

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The CBI has arrested income-tax commissioner (appeal) Ramful Meena and a chartered accountant for demanding and accepting a bribe from a software engineer.

Meena, who was arrested on Friday, had demanded Rs 10
lakh from the techie to give a closure report in his favour, but finally settled for Rs 2.20 lakh.

CBI joint director Rishi Raj Singh said, “According to the techie, Meena began harassing him after he approached him in connection with his tax assessment for 2006-07.” Meena told him that he was liable to pay Rs 20 lakh, and demanded the bribe to dispose of his appeal.

I-T chief ’s 3 cellphones were in fictitious names
Mumbai: Ramful Meena, a 1987-batch IRS officer, was picked up from his official residence on Nepean Sea Road on Friday for taking a Rs 2.20 lakh bribefrom a softwareengineer. Meena and the CA who collected the money on his behalf were produced in court on Saturday, andhavebeen remanded in policecustody tillJuly 12.

CBI joint director Rishi Raj Singh said Meena insisted on the bribe despite the complainant pleading with him that he was just an employee in a firm. Finally, after negotiation, Meena asked the engineer to contactUAPai, a CAwhowould receive the money on his behalf. However, the engineer approached the CBI and lodged a complaint. He was given a phone and conversation-recording equipment and sent withthe money.

With policeofficerskeeping a close watch, the engineer met Pai at a hotel in Fort with the bribe money. Cornered, Pai reportedly created a scene,trying to push the policemen and insisting thathehad nothing todo with the money. It didn’t take long before he admitted to being party tothewrongdoing.

Pai revealed that Meena had instructed him to hand over the money to a person who would come with the I-T commissioner’s visiting card with his signature on it. “We waited for that person, and as soon as he came, we found the card signed by Meena on him,” Singhsaid.

According to CBI sources, the man who had come with Meena’s card has collected money on his behalf on three other occasionstoo.

Meanwhile, when the CBI team reached Meena’s residence, he got suspicious and tried to throw his mobile out. It islearntthatMeena usedtouse the mobile to talk to his contacts. The I-T chief was also found to be in possession of three morecellphones, allin fictitious names and belonging to other telecom circles. It is suspectedthey toowerebeing used for illegal transactions. The CBI is scrutinizing Meena’s call records and looking into a bank locker in Jaipur belonging to him. It has come to light that Meena has a house each in Delhi and Dausa (Rajasthan) and a plot in Jaipur. Searches are on at Pai’s residence and two offices. Incriminating documents have reportedly been seized.

Asked about several income tax officials being caught for taking bribesbutbeing reinstated after getting bail, Singh said, “When we receive complaints, we take action. Our job is to act on complaints and submitour reportstothecourt.”

The Times of India, July 10, 2011

Shooter, stepdad fled to Goa on firing night

PAKMODIA ST ATTACK

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Investigations after the arrest of Chhota Rajan henchman Umaid-Ur-Rahman (27) have revealed that the aide caught with him is his step-father, Asif Jaan (42), and the two escaped to Goa the night he ordered the shooting on Pakmodia Street.
Rahman’s father died 10 years ago and later, his mother married Jaan.

Rahman is the prime suspect in the Pakmodia Street shooting case in which underworld don Dawood Ibarhim’s brother Iqbal Kaskar’s bodyguard, Arif Bael, was killed on May 17. Within half-an-hour of the incident outside Kaskar’s house, the police had arrested two shooters.
“After they learnt that their shooters had been caught, Rahman and his step-father, Jaan, along with their wives, left for Goa in a car,” said an investigator. The two rented two rooms for Rs 10,000 a month near a hotel on Arambol beach in Goa.

“Jaan had arranged for two shooters to execute the killing on Pakmodia Street. He was paid well as the work had to be done at Kaskar’s doorstep,” said an officer.
The police said Rahman was born and brought up on Peerkhan Street and later shifted to Mumbra in 2006. He was well aware of the D-gang’s activities in the Nagpada area. “Perhaps that is why he was chosen by Chhota Rajan,” said the officer.

The police have recovered 11 mobiles, 11 sim cards and four credit cards from Rahman. His mobiles also contained several numbers connected to the underworld people. “We are examining everything and cannot say much at this stage,” said an officer. The police are verifying if fake documents were submitted to procure the credit cards.

A Std-VIII drop-out, Rahman’s first brush with the underworld was in 2006 when he, along with a fugitive suspect, Guddu, was assigned by Chhoa Rajan to kill a police informer and his associate. Rahman also attempted to kill a police officer but he was caught. “Later, he was also involved in the conspiracy to kill a bookie, Chhote Miyan, and attacked one, Asif Khan,” the police said.
The father-son duo has been sent to police custody till July 12.

The Times of India, July 10, 2011

Police fear for shooter’s safety in prison

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: With the Chhota Shakeel’s gang baying for Chhota Rajan’s man Umaid-Ur-Rahman’s blood, the investigating agencies are worried about his security inside the police lock-up and later, the prison.

A source in the police said Shakeel has ordered his men, incarcerated in prisons across the state, to “teach Rahman a lesson” once he was brought to
the jail, for attacking Iqbal Kaskar’s bodyguard.

“Almost all the prisons in Mumbai and nearby cities have several members of Dawood and Shakeel’s gang lodged there,” said a source in the security establishment. However, this intelligence input has not been shared with jail authorities. Incidentally, ever since the shooting on Pakmodia Street, security in jails has been reviewed and in some places, safety has been stepped up, to preempt any bloodbath inside, where members of the rival gangs were feared to clash.

Umaid is involved in at least four shootings in the city, including the firing on Kaskar’s body guard Arif Bael outside Kaskar’s house on Pakmodia Street on May 17.
His name first cropped up in a firing case at D N Nagar in 2006, when an alleged bookie, Zahid alias Chhote Miyan, was shot dead.

Umaid, said a source, wanted to jump the ladder of success in the underworld overnight. He had reportedly told his friends, “Dawood made his name from Nagpada, why can’t I?”
Umaid was born and brought up in Nagpada area, where fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim used to stay. Some of Ibrahim’s family members still live there.

The Times of India, Jul 9, 2011

Engg student in spot for uploading songs online

— Mateen Hafeez & Mahima Sikand

Mumbai: The cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) arrested an engineering student for illegally uploading movie songs on his website. The suspect, Kalpesh Patel, was arrested from Rajkot and brought to Mumbai.

“We have arrested Patel for violating the copyright rules. He had started a website where one can register and download songs for free of charge,” said Deven Bharti, additional commissioner of police (detection). Patel has been remanded in judicial custody.

The complainant, Indian Music Industry (IMI), alleged that Patel’s website www.songsdl.com hosted about 30,000 popular Hindi songs that could be downloaded.

The Times of India, July 9, 2011

Fight over selling grave space

TRUSTEES FALL OUT

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The case of grave selling at the Nariyalwadi Muslim cemetery at Byculla took a turn for the worse with a set of trustees questioning the locus standi of other trustees. The Byculla police are probing the case of selling grave space meant for burying 291 bodies for burial amounting to Rs one crore.An FIR has named three accused for fraud at a religious place.

A retired principal Pervez Mehmood has filed the FIR with the police and said people with vested interest are selling the grave space for Rs 50,000 or more. On the issue of trustees’ appointment, Farid Shaikh, chairman of the Aman committee,
said, “We are trustees of the Nariyalwadi cemetery since 2004. We have submitted relevant documents to the charity commissioner and have acknowledgement copies.” He said his group had been corresponding with the office of the charity commissioner since 2004.

“ People have alleged that M R Vanoo is an illegal trustee. But, as per record he is one of the oldest trustees, since 1974,” Shaikh said. Another trustee, Razzaque Patel, also a retired assistant commissioner of police, said, “If people call me an illegal trustee, I have papers to prove them wrong. We have found that some trustees had submitted forged documents to the charity commissioner. We are on record and can prove it..”


The Times of India, July 9, 2011