Gangster gunned down in encounter in Telangana

HYDERABAD: A gangster, Nayeemuddin, wanted in several cases including gunning down of an IPS officer, was on Monday killed in an exchange of fire with police in Shadnagar town of Telangana.

HYDERABAD: Maoist -turnedgangster Mohammed Nayeemuddin alias Nayeem — the most-wanted criminal of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for over two decades — was on Monday killed in an alleged police encounter at Shadnagar town of Mahbubnagar district, about 50 km from Hyderabad.

According to Mahbubnagar superintendent of police Rama Rajeshwari, local police had got a specific information from their Nizamabad counterparts that Nayeem was trying to extort `1 crore from a businessman at Dichpalli in Nizamabad district and had asked him to hand over the money at Shadnagar.

Following the tip-off, a team of Grey Hounds, the elite anti-extremist force of the Telangana police, assisted by the local police, tracked the movement of Nayeem and his gang who were in a white Ford Endeavour car. As the car entered the Millennium Colony on the outskirts of Shadnagar town, the police chased it down.

“The police asked him to surrender, but a person (believed to be Nayeem) got down from the car and started firing at them. The police returned fire and he died on the spot. In the process, the driver and a couple of others fled from the spot,” Rajeshwari said. She said that one AK47 was recovered from the vehicle and a pistol from Nayeem’s body.

Initial reports suggested that Nayeem and his accomplices were hiding in a house and the police — who suspected them to be terrorists — surrounded the house and in the exchange of fire that ensued, he was killed.

Nayeem, who hails from Bhongir town in Nalgonda district, worked for a Maoist party (then People’s War Group) in the late 80’s. He was instrumental in killing of IPS officer KS Vyas on January 27, 1993 and was arrested. After being released on bail, he turned a gangster and was involved in land settlements, real estate dealings, illegal arms supply and extortions. He was involved in over 100 cases, besides 20 murder cases including that of surrendered Maoist Sambasivudu, his brother Ramulu, another ex-Maoist Patlolla Goverdhan Reddy and civil liberties leader Purushottam.

He floated several self-styled outfits like Kakatiya Cobras, Nallamalla Kobras and Kranti Sena and was involved in killing of at least a dozen Maoists. The Maoist party declared him as a police informer and had been hunting for his head.

Nayeem’s role in the encounter killings of Sohrabuddin Shaikh and his wife Kausar Bi in 2005 came to ligh during the CBI investigation into the case.