5 men from from arrested mobster’s gang held; shooter still on the run

5 men from from arrested mobster’s gang held; shooter still on the run

Staff ReporterUpdated: Thursday, February 06, 2020, 01:15 AM IST
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Mumbai: Police arrested five persons who played key roles in orchestrating a firing in an extortion bid at Kurar Village on Saturday last (February 1) at two different locations. The firing was ordered by the arrested gangster Uday Pathak, to establish his supremacy and spread terror in the area, police said.

Pathak had written extortion notes in jail and then passed these to his men. While police are yet to arrest the main shooter, the arrested accused are said to be the ones that decided the target and carried out the recce. Police have booked them under relevant IPC sections.

According to police sources, the five gang members — Nikhil Rokade, 30, Vikas Pandey alias Pillu, 23, Jeetu Garasiya alias Chitlya, 30, Suraj Sagre, 28, and Praveen Baviskar alias Parry, 22 — were all locals and associated with dreaded mobster Pathak. Dr DS Swami, deputy commissioner of police (Zone 12) said, the arrested five accused conspired to carry out the firing following Pathak’s orders and obtained a country-made weapon.

“While the arrested two, Rokade and Sagre, have criminal records of outraging a woman’s modesty and causing hurt by dangerous weapons respectively, the other three have non-cognisable complaints registered against them,” said DCP Swami.

On February 1, a masked man had fired at two spots in Kurar village, Malad (E), after which chits were found at both places, demanding Rs1 crore or be ready to pay the price. The first incident of firing was reported at 1.30pm where a bike-borne shooter fired a round at Anand Medical and Book Centre at Bhim Nagar in Kurar and around 10 minutes later, a similar incident was reported from Shivaji Nagar, where a shooter fired 2-3 rounds at Rokadia Traders, an imitation jewellery shop.

The crime branch officials began a parallel probe with local police and immediately scrutinised the CCTV camera footage, following which they detained three accused, based on technical evidence and eyewitness accounts. During the questioning, police got leads on their accomplices and arrested them from Parel and Nalasopara on Tuesday evening.

“The five gangsters were promised Rs10,000 each for the job and had tested the weapon by firing it at hilly areas in Malad (E). While the shooter just fired rounds in the air, it was these men who conducted the recce, selected and vetted targets, dropped the chits in the crowded areas to spread terror,” DCP Swami said.

Kurar police has been on the lookout for the shooter and are yet to recover the country-made weapon used in the crime. Meanwhile, police have identified other accused in the case apart from the shooter and are likely to make furthers arrests.

In a similar attempt in 2015, a man from Pathak’s gang had fired a round on Karkeshwar Singh, an autorickshaw driver, who is also the brother of a contractor who was the target of an extortion bid. The accused was booked attempt to murder (307), extortion (387) and criminal conspiracy (120B) of the IPC.

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