Belagavi zilla panchayat former president held for helping Malabari gang

Belagavi: A former president of Belgavi zilla panchayat, Nazir Nadaf, has been arrested on charges of sheltering underworld don Chhota Shakeel's aide Rasheed Malabari and helping his gang kidnap and kill a local businessman two years ago.

Belagavi Police Commissioner T.G. Krishna Bhatt on Monday said that Nadaf had sheltered Malabari at his farmhouse in Saudatti taluk two years ago and helped the gang kidnap and kill Rohan Redekar (23), son of a well-known businessman Suresh Redekar of Belagavi.

The City Crime Investigation Bureau also arrested five other gang members of Malabari, who were directly involved in the killing of Redekar. Four of the five accused are Muzafar Shaikh, Imtiyaz Dalayat, Jatin Arjun Kadam and Sarfaraz.

The commissioner said that during interrogation, Nadaf admitted that Redekar was kidnapped and killed by Malabari gang. Redekar was kidnapped while he was at Hanuman Nagar and later taken to Chorla Ghat near Goa where he was stabbed and killed. The gang had disposed his body in a thick forest in Chorla Ghat. Malabari's men kidnapped Rohan only after Nadaf informed Malabari that Redekar's family was rich, Mr Bhatt said.

Even as the police were investigating the Rohan murder case, the gang was hatching a plan to kill at least eight people, The same gang butchered Ashish Ranjan and threw his body near Ankola. They later murdered Ayaz Ahmed of Mumbai. Another builder Aslam from Mumbai too was kidnapped by the same gang for ransom.

The gang recently kidnapped a real estate agent, Shareef Yargatti, and demanded Rs 2 crore. However, they released Shareef after accepting '3.5 lakh and an assurance from Yargatti family that another '10 lakh would be paid within a few days.