Mumbai gangster's associate escapes police dragnet

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, OCT. 7. A close associate of the Mumbai gangster, Chota Shakeel, slipped the dragnet of the police when an apartment in the Garden Towers near the Police Officers' Mess, Masab Tank, was raided by the Task Force and the Counter Intelligence officials here on Sunday.

Police sources identified the associate as Sohail, who was reportedly visiting the apartment regularly. The abortive attempt to catch the culprit was made following the raids conducted earlier in the day at Chennai.

Initially, a dancer residing in the flat was taken into custody. However, the woman was let off by the police after interrogation. Both Sohail and Chota Shakeel owe allegiance to the mafia don, Dawood Ibrahim.

Some police officers felt that the raid was absolutely a premature attempt leading to the escape of the accused. They observed that the mafia activist could have been caught had the Task Force and the Counter Intelligence officials maintained surveillance and showed patience.

They said that, of late, activities of the Mumbai-based mafia gangs were on the rise in the city as the gangs were focussing on Hyderabad to make it their centre in South India.

The kidnapping of a businessman, Akshay Gupta, daughter of a senior ITC official, Sumedha, and the son of a timber merchant in Saroornagar in separate incidents were reportedly masterminded and executed by these mafia gangs. There were a good number of incidents where the businessmen and industrialists of the city received threatening calls from mafia gangs for payment of money.

Except for the apprehension of Sagir Ahmed Shaik, another associate of Chota Shakeel, two years ago, the City Police could not achieve a breakthrough while dealing with mafia-related cases.

With the dwindling confidence over the police machinery, the victims are also not coming forth to part with information. The gangsters' threats of dire consequences in case of approaching the police on the one hand and the fear of probing questions from the Income Tax department on the other, are holding back the victims from lodging complaints with the police.

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Section  : Southern States
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