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Bombay police hits back at the underworld

The Bombay police have gone on the offensive against the city's underworld, arresting several suspected members of big gangs.

At a press conference today, Rakesh Mariya, additional commissioner of police (north-west region), said gangsters belonging to the Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel and Arun Gawli gangs have been caught in recent days.

He also announced that the police had solved the murder of a 13-year-old girl in Bandra, in north-west Bombay, and arrested two persons.

All the arrested men were brought before members of the press, handcuffed and with their faces covered.

Mariya said the anti-extortion cell of the police caught six men belonging to the Dawood gang and working under notorious criminal Mohamed Ali alias Mamdya. They were wanted in nine cases of murder in different parts of the city and had been in operation since 1986.

The police recovered a 7.65mm German pistol and a .38 bore revolver from the men. "Three of them are sharpshooters, while the others were 'watchers'," Mariya said.

One of the shooters, Ramzan Baba Sheikh, is wanted in six cases of murder. Another, Abdul Gani Kamruddin, had been arrested in the murder of three police constables during the 1992-93 Bombay riots. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, but managed to get bail on appeal and escaped. The third shooter was identified as Munawar Hussein Sayed.

All the six men have been booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Ordinance, Mariya said.

Seven members of the Chhota Shakeel gang have also been arrested on charges of murder. Their leader was Irfan Hassan Bukhari (28), a man wanted in at least half-a-dozen cases. Two of the arrested men are sharpshooters, while five others functioned as watchers and transporters. Two pistols and seven rounds of ammunition were seized from them.

Another extortionist, Abdul Hamid Qayoom Pathan (28), of the Arun Gawli gang was arrested on March 6 at Khar Danda in north-west Bombay. Four revolvers and 379 rounds of ammunition were recovered from him. Qayoom had earlier been booked under the National Security Act in 1996.

The police also brought the two men accused of the murder of 13-year-old Heena Chotrani to the press conference. They were arrested on March 8.

The duo, Deepankar Mandal and Nurul Ahmed Hussein, worked as carpenters at the Chotrani residence. While Mandal was caught at his hideout in Calcutta, Hussein was arrested in Bombay.

Police said Mandal and Hussein, along with two others, had gone to the Chotranis' residence in Bandra with the intention of robbing it. Since they knew the girl, there was no forced entry. But when Heena resisted the robbery, they killed her, Mariya said. The family's pet dog was also killed.

UNI

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