Wanted in a 14yearold murder case, gangster’s aide arrested

crime branch of the Mumbai police on Friday arrested a 53-year-old man who used to work for gangster Subhash Singh Thakur, and was wanted in a 14-year-old murder case among other serious offences. The accused has confessed to have sent men to kill a builder in Dombivli in 2016.

The accused, Arputraj Biraswami John, resident of Khar, had allegedly killed a man in MIDC area at Andheri (East) after pouring acid on him in 1986. He was also among five accused arrested for the murder of builder Amit Patil in December 2016. A police official said during interrogation, John confessed to having sent men to kill Patil. The builder, however, survived as his body guard took the bullet instead and succumbed to the injuries later.

Acting on a tip off, the crime branch officers tracked John’s movements for two weeks as he was in touch with other members of Thakur’s gang. But John kept changing his location and also his mobile numbers which made it tough for the police to catch him.

On Thursday, a team of crime branch officials nabbed him at Kanderpada area in Dahisar. “We are investigating if he was working on any specific assignment in Mumbai or neighbouring districts,” said a police official.

In three decades of his criminal career, John had committed murders and extortions. He was also booked in an arms Act case in Kherwadi and Nirmal Nagar police station. There are several cases registered against him in