Mysuru: A man and his gang of serial murderers, who were driven by communal hatred, and killed eight people and made attempts on the lives of four others, have been arrested by the Mysuru police.
The police, who were hunting for the killers of RSS activist and BJP worker Raju (39) on March 13 this year, arrested the trio and solved 11 other cases too.
The prime accused, Abeed Pasha alias Bhaiyya alias Ibrahim alias Usman (34), has confessed that he and his associates murdered Raju because of his involvement in communal riots of 2009.
Mysuru Police Commissioner B. Dayanand said, “Since the major reason behind Raju’s murder is alleged communal vengeance and also to create fear in society, we have now booked the cases under Sections 15, 16, 17 and 18 under ‘The unlawful activities (Prevention) Act 1967’. Raju’s murder was in retaliation to his alleged involvement in the 2009 communal clashes in Mysuru. The trigger for the communal riots was Raju’s protest against a mosque coming up in a controversial site near his house in Kyathamaranahalli,” he said.
Pasha was allegedly involved in eight murders and four attempts to murder since 2008. All the eight people who were murdered and the four who survived belonged or associated with to pro-Hindu organisations.
With Pasha’s arrest, the police have solved five murders and two attempts to murder in Mysuru alone. One of the cases was pending before the CID. Mr Dayanand said that Pasha, who hails from Hunsur and was a carpenter, dropped out of school in fourth standard. He was staying at Shanthinagar in Mysuru and was listed as a rowdy in Hunsur.
He was also the prime accused in the kidnapping and murder of two students from Hunsur in 2011. He and his gang had kidnapped the students for ransom and were planning to use the money for the activities of their organisation. The police said that the name of the organisation is yet to be ascertained.
Before Raju’s murder, Pasha and his gang killed Parveen Taj alias Munni, who was reportedly a sex worker, in July 2015 in Udayagiri police limits.
The police have also arrested three associates of Pasha – Ayub Khan (27), Muhammad Haneef alias Haneef Bhai (36) and Syed Ameen (28). Of them, Ameen was involved with Pasha in four murders and two attempts to murder.
The police have also seized the vehicle and weapon used in Raju’s murder. The police are in search of other associates involved in these crimes.
Cash reward for police team Mr Dayananand said, “The DGP has announced a cash reward of '1 lakh for arresting Abeed Pasha and his three associates. further enhancement of reward will be sought since three more associates of Abeed Pasha have now been arrested,” he said.
led Mysuru city top cop Mr B Dayanand and the CCB unit led by C Gopal, and a resident of Kyathamaranahalli, 39 year old He was hacked to death near Vinayaka tea stall, on MG road in Udaygiri Police station limits, at 4.45pm on 13th of March this year.
