CHHOTA SHAKEEL AIDE, FUGITIVE GANGSTER'S COUSIN HELD

MUMBAI: The anti-extortion cell (AEC) of the crime branch on Wednesday arrested Sameer Lakdawala, a first cousin of fugitive gangster Ejaz Lakdawala, and Rafeeq Mohammad Farooq, a former associate of gangster Chhota Shakeel, for not appearing in courts in connection with cases filed against them. Lakdawala has been wanted since 2013, in connection with an extortion case; and Farooq, for the past 19 years for possessing arms.

Police inspector Sachin Kadam of the AEC said Lakdawala left Mumbai soon after coming out on bail and fled to Ajmer Sharif Dargah where he lived under an alias. He changed cities frequently and even worked as a daily-wage labourer to make ends meet, police said.

Lakdawala was arrested in 2003 and 2012 for extorting property developers in the city. “He was his brother’s resource to conduct recces on businessmen,” said Kadam. “We received information that he was coming to Haji Ali Dargah and trapped him there.”

Farooq was arrested for carrying a pistol by unit 10 officials in 2000. He came out on bail in few months and went to Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh, where he was arrested for murder and rioting in 2012. He had been bailed out in that case as well. “We alerted the local police station in Pratapgarh who arrested him. A police team went to Uttar Pradesh last week and brought him to Mumbai,” a crime branch official said.

MANISH PATHAK