Chhota Shakeel ‘aides’ held for cheating Sobo developer

MUMBAI: The Mumbai crime branch arrested three people, including an accused in the 1993 serial bomb blast case, for threatening a south Mumbai developer by allegedly

MUMBAI: The Mumbai crime branch arrested three people, including an accused in the 1993 serial bomb blast case, for threatening a south Mumbai developer by allegedly claiming to be the aides of fugitive gangster Chhota Shakeel and cheating him of Rs1.25 crore. The anti-extortion cell (AEC) officers said the trio had taken the money for selling a warehouse in Masjid Bunder area, however, neither did they give him the possession of the property nor returned the money.

HT Image

A team of AEC officers, headed by senior inspector Vinayak Vast, and Sachin Kadam, Raju Surve and others arrested Mohammad Ahmed Mansuri alias Ahmad Langda, Hanif Shaikh alias Hanif Motha and Faisal Juneja. Mansuri is an accused in 1993 blast and also has an Arms Act case registered against him for being part of a shootout in JJ Hospital in 1992. He was also arrested for threatening former Bandra MLA Baba Siddique.

The arrests took place from Dongri and JJ Marg areas after they threatened the developer that he would receive calls from Shakeel if he pressured them to either return money or give the possession of the warehouse.

“The accused started dodging the complainant after the money was paid. They threatened him that Shakeel will speak to him and that the gangster was a partner in the property and he was against selling it,” said an AEC officer. This claim is being verified by the AEC.