Police arrest the 2 bike borne men who publicly shot at contractor

NAVI MUMBAI: Two men arrested for shooting contractor Rajaram Thoke in Sanpada over a contract rivalry. The attack was planned for six months.

NAVI MUMBAI: The two bike borne assailants who shot a contractor in broad daylight in Sanpada, on January 3, were arrested by the police. The first accused, Santosh Gawli was arrested by the Navi Mumbai crime branch on Saturday from Pune. The second accused, Imran Mulla Qureshi, a Kalamboli resident was arrested on Tuesday from a dargah within Pune rural area.

Police arrest the 2 bike borne men who publicly shot at contractor

On January 3, a 48-year-old contractor Rajaram Thoke who lives in Ghatkopar, was shot in broad daylight multiple times at Sanpada.

The victim was seated inside his car waiting for two colleagues drinking tea from a nearby stall, when five bullets were shot by the accused from close range. Thoke sustained grievous injuries to his shoulder, abdomen and leg but survived the attack.

The arrest came through after the police established the alleged rivalry the shooters had with the APMC waste disposal contract Thoke held. Gawli used to be the contractor for disposal of waste at APMC market.

“Thoke secured the contract of undertaking garbage collection in the market earlier held by Gawli, almost two years back. Gawli was frustrated as he had not only lost the contract but also the respect of the workers, which is now enjoyed by Thoke,” said an investigating officer. He added that while serving time in prison for a different crime, Gawli had befriended Quereshi, the shooter, and sought his help to eliminate Thoke,” said an investigating officer.

Qureshi is a former DK Rao Gang member and was earlier booked under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). He used a 9mm pistol to shoot Thoke on January 3. Police said the shooting on that day was executed after six months of planning

Both the accused were remanded to police custody till January 17.