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ShareSurat: After 15-days of the brutal murder of Surat-based financier and land broker Rajiv Shah, the Surat police arrested all three prime accused from a hotel on National Highway (NH) 8, on Sunday.
Officials of PCB (Surat) were successful in nabbing them after chasing for hours. The trio has been brought to Surat and they were produced before the court on Sunday evening. The court has given them remand for six days and they will remain in police custody till October 30.
The three accused for Shah's murder were identified as Mehul Lakhani, Amar Thakkar, and Hiren Kakadia. All the three were arrested by the police from a hotel between Talasari and Bhilad located at NH 8, on early hours of Sunday morning. They were having snacks at a hotel, when police raided the hotel.
"We received information that Mehul, Amar and Hiren are hiding in Mumbai. With the help of Mumbai police we raided two separate flats at Andheri and Chembur, but trio managed to escape from there. We learnt that accused had rented a Maruti Van (MH -04-AH-6776) and were moving towards Daman. We kept track of the vehicle and were able to arrest them," RV Rabari, inspector of PCB, said.
"Due to increasing pressure from the police, the trio was planning to surrender before the court and even had contacted their advocate. A meeting was fixed at a resort at Daman with the advocate, to discuss the procedure for surrender in the court. Trio headed to Daman, but before they could reach there, they were arrested," Rabari added.
PCB officials said that trio was given shelter in Mumbai by a person named Maane, who is believed to have links with the underworld gangster Chotta Rajan. While trio is arrested, the search for Maane is still on. All three accused were handed over to DCB (Detection of Crime Branch) officials as the case is being handled by the department. Sources said that trio would be presented before the court either on Monday morning.
Though the arrest was made by the police department, sources close feel that it was pre-planned. "How did the police suddenly learn that the accused are in Mumbai? If mobile phones were traced, then why did not the police go to Mumbai earlier? It is little hard to believe that after two successful escapes in Mumbai, they were having tea at a hotel on the highway. Every possibility is that they have surrendered to the police," a top police official, requesting anonymity, said.
Hiren, Amar and Mehul had murdered financier Rajiv Shah at the parking of his residential apartment on October 11. The accused stabbed Shah several times and later fled from the spot. Shah's wife Ami had lodged a complaint at the Umra police station and named the three as accused.
