GPO firing: Politician, seven others in crime branch net

Seven people, including political leader Mohammad Ali Shaikh, were arrested by the officers of the Mumbai crime branch in connection with the murder of diesel mafia Sayyed Ali Madar alias Chand. The police claim that this was a case of supari killing and the intention was to gain supremacy over the diesel mafia, which often operates in the high seas.

The arrested culprits have been identified as Mohammad Ali Abubakar Shaikh, 48, Samad Ismail Deshmukh, alias Salim, 36, Mujeeb Abdul Majeed alias Bablu, 32, Abdul Rehman Sultan Shah alias Lala, 32, Shahnawaz Anwar Shaikh alias Babu, 28, Shahid Zeenat Shah alias Bablu, 28, and Mohammad Sagir Ahmed Riyasat Hussain Ansari, 25.

Chand was shot at on September 15 near the GPO. He sustained a bullet injury and was declared dead the next day at the hospital.

“Investigations revealed that Salim, who is a dealer in the scrap business, is also a  diesel thief, often operating at high seas. Customs had seized his tug and diesel worth Rs40 lakh in a 2008 case,” said joint commissioner of police, crime, Himanshu Roy.

He added that Salim was booked under COFEPOSA (The Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974) and was detained for over 10 months. “He said that the diesel consignment belonged to Chand and he had nothing to do with it. But when Chand sensed trouble, he asked Salim to take the blame in return for a certain consideration,” Roy said.

When Salim came out of jail two months ago, he learnt that Chand had not kept his promise, the police said. “It was then that Salim decided to do away with Chand and approached Mohammad Ali.

Ali agreed to finance the entire conspiracy, as it was in his interest to eliminate his rival,” said additional commissioner  of police Deven Bharti.

Salim then contacted Wadala residents Mujeeb and Abdul Rehman, truck drivers by profession. Accordingly, they were entrusted with the responsibility of organising shooters. “They hired two men from Jharkhand, Shahid and Sagir,” said deputy commissioner Nisar Tamboli.

On September 15, when Chand came out of his office, Shahnawaz pointed him out to the shooters. While one was ready with the bike, another shot Chand at a point-blank range. They then sped away on the bike. “We have recovered the weapon used and three rounds of live cartridges. The shooters were arrested from Mugalsarai in UP,” said police inspector Arun Chavan.

The police are probing the underworld angle and are also examining the possibility of applying MCOCA in the case, since the accused are apparently history-sheeters. “A supari of Rs3 lakh was paid. It was an outcome of breach of trust and the other motive was to gain control over the diesel theft business,” Roy said.