Produce music baron killer in court, police chief told

The Bombay High Court on Friday directed police commissioner D. Sivanandhan to ensure that music baron Gulshan Kumar’s killer Abdul Rauf Daood Merchant is brought to Mumbai and produced before the court.

The Bombay High Court on Friday directed police commissioner D. Sivanandhan to ensure that music baron Gulshan Kumar’s killer Abdul Rauf Daood Merchant is brought to Mumbai and produced before the court.

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Kumar was killed on August 12, 1997. A division bench of Justice B. H. Marlapalle and Justice Mridula Bhatkar gave Sivanandhan time until June 20.

The judges expressed their anguish seeing that no efforts were being made to bring back the convict, who jumped parole and fled to Bangladesh.

Merchant was serving a life-term at Aurangabad Central Prison. In April 2009, he jumped the 14-day parole leave and fled the country. He was arrested on May 27 in Dhaka.

On January 10, the CBI Interpol issued a red corner notice against him and attempts are being made for extradition. Public prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh told the court that the Crime Branch was in touch with the CBI Interpol. She, however, could not answer a court query on whether he was still in custody of Dhaka police or released from their custody.