Pakmodia firing mastermind held in Goa

The prime conspirator in the murder of the driver of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s brother at Pakmodia Street on May 17, has been arrested by the Mumbai crime branch. Police sources claim that the killing of Arif Sayed, Iqbal Kaskar’s driver, was ordered by Dawood’s rival Chhota Rajan, as the latter felt that Sayed, an old-time loyalist of the Dawood family, was trying to increase his clout in the builder lobby.

The arrested person has been identified as Umed-ul-Rehman Ishrant Hussain Shaikh, 27. Following the firing at Pakmodia Street on May 17, Shaikh had fled with his mother, wife and sister to Goa, where he was staying on rent. Shaikh was arrested along with his accomplice and step-father Asif Jaan Mohammad Shaikh, 41, on Thursday. The police have seized 11 mobile phones from them.

A crime branch officer, requesting anonymity, said that the reason Shaikh chose to seek a hideout in Goa was that it was not known to be a safe haven in the past for underworld operatives.

“Normally, gangsters flee to either Nepal or Bangladesh, but hiding in Goa is unheard of,” the officer said.

“It was learnt that Shaikh was planning a series of attacks in the city. He had already identified the targets and had conducted a reconnaissance. Had he not been held, he was onto something big in the coming days. He was in touch with Rajan while he was at-large,” said joint commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Roy, refusing to divulge information on the targets on Shaikh’s hit list.