Mumbai police arrest music baron Gulshan Kumar's murder accused

Abdul Rauf Daud Merchant, a top aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim who walked free on Monday from a Bangladesh jail after the expiry of his jail term for cross-border intrusion has been arrested by the city crime branch on Thursday. Merchant was convicted for killing Bollywood music baron Gulshan Kumar in 1997.

Kumar was shot while he was coming out of a temple in Andheri on August 12, 1997.

Allegedly a contract killer, Merchant, 37, was sentenced to life term in Mumbai in 2002 for killing Kumar. Merchant, was the only one of 19 accused to be convicted in the case.

Merchant, however, filed an appeal against his conviction. He absconded after being released on parole in April, 2009 to visit his family in Mumbai.

The same year, Bangladeshi authorities arrested him from Mourail, with two associates, while he was hiding in the residence of one Kamal Mian. He was then sentenced to five years in prison for intruding and illegally staying in Bangladesh.

Merchant's release came 11 months after Bangladesh authorities said that they decided to extradite Merchant."Merchant is in our custody and we are interrogating him," confirmed Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) KMM Prasanna.