Two arrested for firing at vakola bar owner

With the arrest of two people, the Crime Branch official claimed to have cracked the firing incident case at Vakola early this month, reports HT Correspondent.

With the arrest of two people, the Crime Branch official claimed to have cracked the firing incident case at Vakola early this month. An hotelier and his neighbour were injured.

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Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, Rakesh Maria said Wensil Roy Miranda (27) and Nitin Prabhakar Pawar (28) were arrested from Maitri Park in Chembur on Tuesday night when they were about to board a bus for Bangalore.

A 7.65 mm pistol and three live rounds were seized from them. Their aide, Manisingh Jagatsingh (25), is still at large.

Maria said a Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle, used to commit the crime, has been seized.

On October 1, Krishna Shetty, owner of Pushpak bar and restaurant at Vakola, and his neighbour Nicholas Gomes were fired at by three bike-borne people. Maria said the attack was carried out at the behest of gangster Sachin Khambe over extortion demands.

Khambe, who worked for Bahrain-based underworld don Ali Budesh and later for the Subhash Singh Thakur gang, was involved in a series of murders in the city in the late 1990s and early 2000, including the attempt on the life of film director and producer Rakesh Roshan on January 21, 2000. He was discharged in the case.

Kambe was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Ziauddin Sheikh, a rival gangster on January 20, 2000. He is lodged in the Bangalore Central Prison as he is facing trial in a 2006 abduction case.

Maria said Khambe had demanded Rs 25,000 protection money from Krishna Shetty’s hotel. Gopal Shetty, a manager in Krishna’s hotel, took the call but did not entertain his demand. “This angered Khambe who decided to depute his sharp shooters,” Maria added.

Miranda was involved in the murder of Sena Upa Shakha Pramukh from Thane, Umesh Paudwal.