Armed gangsters arrested

Mumbai, July 22 (UNI) The police today arrested four gangsters, owing allegiance to mafia don Chhota Rajan, and seized from them one Italian-made pistol and two country-made revolvers, after an encounter at Colaba in south Mumbai.

Briefing reporters here, Additional Comissioner of Police (South Zone-1) K Venkatesham said the kingpin, Nasir Hussain Noor Mohammed Sheikh, was arrested along with his three accomplices, Abdul Rehman Wahid Siddi, Sayyed Azim Ahmed Sayyed and Khalid Zainuddin Hasware, when they came to commit dacoity at a jeweller's shop at Colaba.

''We had a prior specific information that a gang of six will be coming to Colaba to commit the dacoity. A team, led by DCP (South Zone-1) Brijesh Singh, laid the trap, and despite they being armed with loaded weapons, the four gangsters were arrested, while two others managed to escape,'' he said.

According to police, the accused are involved in serious offences like murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and extortion.

The police also claimed that Nasir is a proclaimed offender in an attempt to murder case at Dharavi police station.

However, rubbishing the allegations levied by Nasir's family that he was implicated at the behest of a Colaba builder, who is said to have paid Rs 5 lakh to the police for his arrest, Mr Venkatesham said ''such allegations are a kind of defence that a suspect usually puts up.'' The police said the gang was also actively involved in settling disputes as well.

They were produced before a Metropolitan Magistrate Court (holiday), which remanded them to one-day police custody with a directive to produce them before regular court tomorrow.

UNI