Former aide of Rajan killed in AP

An underworld gangster and former aide of mafia don Chhota Rajan wanted in connection with several cases of murder in Mumbai was shot dead by the police in an encounter in Hyderabad on Wednesday night.

A US-made revolver was recovered from Azeez Reddy, alias Venkat Reddy, who was killed during a shoot-out with the police in the posh Jubilee Hills area, Banjara Hills assistant commissioner of police V Ramachandraiah said.

The gangster was named in eight murder cases in Mumbai and extortion cases in Hyderabad, he said. Three cellphones, two credit cards and a driving licence were also recovered from him.

The first criminal case against Azeez Reddy was registered in Musheerabad police station about 10 years ago. Reddy was known to be a sharp-shooter in the Chhota Rajan gang.

He was in the Arthur Road jail for three years before he migrated to Uttar Pradesh where he had links with another mafia don Subhash Thakur after returning from Dubai in 2002.

On a tip-off that Azeez Reddy was moving with his gang members in a black car to strike a land deal, the police launched a drive to check vehicles in the Jubilee Hills area. They spotted Reddy’s car and asked its occupants to surrender. But one of them opened fire at the police. The cops retaliated, and Reddy was shot dead.

His associates abandoned the car and ran away, the police officer said.