Two held for kidnapping & murder in Jamnagar Dist

Jamnagar, Aug 7 (UNI) The police have arrested two persons near Vanana village of Jamjodhpur taluka, about 80 km from here, for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a man over two months ago.

A gang of four unidentified persons had kidnapped Altaf Aziz Kherani from Dhrol village on Jamanagar-Rajkot highway, 38 km from here, on May 29. Though no arrest was made, the police had lodged a first information report (FIR) against them.

On Saturday evening, the Jamjodhpur police tried to stop a car carrying five persons near Vanana village during a search operation.

The men in the car allegedly fired two rounds at the police, who retaliated by firing nine rounds at them. After the firing incident, three escaped and two were caught. One of them, Anwar Abdul Gadhkai, was caught after being hit by two bullets in his leg, while another Nasir Yousuf was held along with Gadhkai, police sources said.

Police rushed Gadhkai to civil hospital here for treatment, where he later confessed to the crime. In his confession, he said his gang had specialised in kidnappings, highway robberies and supari killings. On May 29, Kherani was kidnapped and taken to a desolate mine at village Laiyara on Jamnagar-Rajkot highway, where he was killed and his body was thrown into a pool of water.

After Gadhkai's confession, Jamnagar police and a fire-brigade team swung into action to search the body of Kherani. However, sources fear that it is unlikely that a body could be recovered after a span of over two months. An alert has been sounded for other gang members, sources added.

UNI