A contract killing plot has come to the fore in Lucknow, with two lawyers - in a gang of six - accused of taking out a ₹2 lakh hit on a madrasa operator, police said on Friday.
The Hazratganj police said they arrested six men in connection with the alleged conspiracy to kill Irfan Ahmed Rizvi, who runs Madrasa Jamia Al Noor Al Salamia in Makbool Nagar, Faridipur. Among those arrested are the two lawyers, a madrasa manager-cum-property dealer and three alleged shooters/facilitators.
The six arrested accused have been identified as Aman Qureshi, Soheil Ahmed Siddiqui, Mohd Farhan Siddiqui, Bilal Hashmi, Mohd Shahid and Mohd Zamir. They are to be produced before a court, police said.
“The plot came to light after police arrested Mohd Shahid and Mohd Zamir (the hired killers) on August 18 near the Indira Nagar Metro station area. The duo were allegedly riding a stolen motorcycle and carrying a pistol and five live cartridges while conducting reconnaissance for the killing,” said ADCP Central JK Dubey.
“During questioning, the two allegedly told the police that Aman Qureshi had shown them a photograph of the target and offered them ₹2 lakh to carry out the killing. They were also allegedly provided with the firearm and ammunition,” said ACP Hazratganj Rajneesh Verma. “We subsequently formed five teams with the surveillance cell to trace Qureshi. He was arrested around 2.15am on Friday from inside Laxman Mela Park,” the ACP added.
{{/usCountry}}“During questioning, the two allegedly told the police that Aman Qureshi had shown them a photograph of the target and offered them ₹2 lakh to carry out the killing. They were also allegedly provided with the firearm and ammunition,” said ACP Hazratganj Rajneesh Verma. “We subsequently formed five teams with the surveillance cell to trace Qureshi. He was arrested around 2.15am on Friday from inside Laxman Mela Park,” the ACP added.
{{/usCountry}}Qureshi allegedly told the police that Soheil Ahmed Siddiqui and Mohd Farhan Siddiqui, both lawyers from Chowk, had approached him to arrange men to kill Rizvi. He allegedly introduced Shahid and Zamir to the two lawyers and supplied them with the firearm, a stolen motorcycle and a separate keypad phone and SIM card to avoid detection.
According to Hazratganj SHO Vikram Singh, the conspiracy had been in the works for about a month. Qureshi allegedly said the motorcycle used by the shooters had been stolen by him, Shahid and Zamir near the Indira Nagar Metro station.
Singh further said Rizvi’s photographs were allegedly supplied to the accused so they could identify him. Two such photographs were also allegedly recovered from Qureshi.
Investigators then arrested Siddiqui, Farhan and Bilal Hashmi around 10.45am on Friday near a temple under the Baikunth Dham embankment road. According to the police, Hashmi was the manager of Rizvi’s madrasa and also worked as a property dealer. He allegedly had access to documents and information related to the madrasa’s property and was acquainted with the two lawyers, who were also his clients.
The ACP said the accused allegedly wanted Rizvi killed to take control of the madrasa property. Investigators also found that Rizvi had only daughters, all of whom were married, which the accused allegedly believed would make it easier to acquire the property after his death.
The case has been registered under sections 3(5), 303(2), 317(2), 61(2)(a), 62 and 308(6) of the BNS and Section 3/25 of the Arms Act.
Police have recovered a pistol with a magazine, five live cartridges and the stolen motorcycle. A separate theft case related to the motorcycle is registered at Ghazipur police station.