Mumbai (Maharashtra): A shooter of fugitive gangster Chhota Shakeel was arrested in connection with a murder after being on the run for more than 25 years, a Mumbai police official said. Laik Ahmed Fida Hussain Sheikh (50), accused in the murder of a member of the arrested underworld don Chhota Rajan gang in 1997, was arrested by Pydhonie Police from near Thane railway station on July 28, officials said.
According to officials, Sheikh along with other gang members shot dead Munna Dhari, a member of the arrested underworld don Chhota Rajan gang on April 2, 1997. Initially, the police registered a case against Sheikh under Section 302,34 of the IPC and Sections 3, 25 of the Arms Act and arrested him. Sheikh, however, was released on bail in 1998 by a court here.
Soon after his bail, Sheikh was declared an absconder as he did not appear in any court hearing and went underground. After receiving information that Sheikh lived in Mumbra, police conducted a search there, but he was not found. The police then received another tip-off that Sheikh worked as a taxi driver at the Thane campur. Acting on the tip-off the police traced the location of the accused and arrested him on Friday near Thane railway station.
Also Read: Mumbai court acquits Chhota Rajan in trade union leader Datta Samant murder case
Meanwhile, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday acquitted gangster Chhota Rajan in a case related to the 1997 murder of trade union leader Datta Saman. The court said that there was nothing on record to prove that Rajan hatched the conspiracy against Samant. Samant, who organised the 1981 textile mill workers' strike in Mumbai, was shot dead on January 16, 1997, while travelling in his Jeep to his office in Pant Nagar in suburban Ghatkopar.
