Apart from Rasheed Malbari, the others were identified as Sahil Ismail Sheik (23), a resident of Thane, Sayaf T A (25), a student and a resident of Chettanchal in Kasargod, Mohammed Hasim (28), a driver and resident of Nellikunnu in Kasargod, and Ibrahim alias Sahib Ibrahim (27), a resident of Kaup Padu in Udupi district.
Chhota Shakeel planned to kill Varun Gandhi
1 Apr 2009, 0202 hrs IST, Dilip Awasthi, TNN
LUCKNOW: Dreaded gangster Chhota Shakeel had ordered the elimination of Varun Gandhi the day he was to surrender at a Pilibhit court.
The Intelligence Bureau had intercepted a telephonic communication on March 21 from the Karachi-based don for this ‘special assignment’ to his key shooter Rashid Malbari. The IB had alerted the UP home department on March 22, after which Varun’s ‘on-way’ security was doubled.
Malbari, alias Double, was arrested in a joint operation of the IB and Karnataka’s Department of Criminal Intelligence Bureau in Mangalore on March 27 while he was preparing to move to Pilibhit via Delhi.
The 38-year-old executioner of ‘D-Company’ had a red corner notice of Interpol against him and intelligence sources said he had confessed his plans to assassinate Varun. His arrest came after cops had caught three other men linked to the plot — Sayaf T A, Mohammad Hasim and Sahib Ibrahim. Cops found two Colt pistols, several credit cards and 11 mobile phones on Malbari.
Malbari came into prominence when he shot at and injured Chhota Rajan in Bangkok in September 2000 and in 2004 killed Rajan’s second-in-command Balu Dokre in Malaysia. He had been reported missing from Mumbai police records for the last 13 years and had sneaked into India nine months ago through Nepal, said intelligence officers.
The sources said the first communication was intercepted around March 15 and the final on March 21. The plan was to kill Varun for his hate speeches, to restore ‘confidence in Indian Muslims’ and ‘disturb’ Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.
As a result of IB’s tip-off, the state home department ordered more than a dozen cops headed by a DSP and two SIs to sandwich Varun’s vehicle as soon as it left Delhi for Pilibhit on March 28.
Varun had informed Pilibhit DM that he would be leaving for Pilibhit from New Delhi at 6am on March 28. Unaware of the threat, Varun was anticipating his arrest.
In order to dodge the police, he started at 3.30am. As the police escort had been placed on alert, it followed him in two vehicles. Near Rampur around 8.30am, the carcade halted and Varun slipped into a waiting black Scorpio of one of his friends. The DSP escorting Varun informed the officials that they had lost him.
Panic buttons were pressed from Lucknow and SPs of all surrounding districts were alerted. Finally, the police traced the vehicle in Sitarganj. Mangalore police revealed Malbari’s arrest on March 29, but the story put out was that he had planned to kidnap a senior politician. IB sources said, ever since the Shakeel communication, calls to three SIM numbers were being monitored and this eventually led to tracking Malbari.
Chhota Shakeels accomplice, four others arrested
DH News Service , Mangalore: Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Underworld don Chhota Shakeels aide Rasheed Malabari and four others, who had planned to assassinate some prominent people in the country, have been arrested.
Rasheed Malabari, for whose arrest Interpol had been notified, was arrested in Kasargod, Director-General of police Ajay Kumar Singh told reporters here on Monday.
Chhota Shakeel is Dawood Ibrahim’s lieutenant. Rasheed Malabari alias Double (38) from Thane in Maharashtra has a large number of murder and extortion cases against him, Singh said. He has been evading the police for the last 13 years.
A special squad of the Western Range police, in co-ordination with Central and the state Intelligence agencies, arrested the gangsters. Apart from Rasheed Malbari, the others were identified as Sahil Ismail Sheik (23), a resident of Thane, Sayaf T A (25), a student and a resident of Chettanchal in Kasargod, Mohammed Hasim (28), a driver and resident of Nellikunnu in Kasargod, and Ibrahim alias Sahib Ibrahim (27), a resident of Kaup Padu in Udupi district.
Tip-off
Singh said the special police team, acting on a tip-off, intercepted a vehicle near the Talapady check post on Sunday and arrested Sayaf, Mohammed Hasim and Ibrahim. Based on the information given by them, the team arrested the other two main accused from Kasargod town.
Police have recovered arms and ammunition, havala money of Rs 19,000 and several SIM cards from India and foreign countries, he said.
In 1995, Rasheed Malbari came into contact with Chhota Shakeel in Dubai and did hawala business to help the gang members in jail and in court matters. He had shot Vilas, an associate of Mohan Kotian in 1996.
He was part of the Chhota Shakeel gang that killed Hussain Vastra, a suspected informant of Chhota Rajan, in 1997.
In 1998 he, along with fellow gangster Mastan, trapped and shot rivals Prashant and John in Baikampady within the Panambur police station limits. He was also involved in the 1998 shootout case in the K G Halli police station limits in Bangalore, Singh said.
Rasheed Malbari was frequently travelling to the Gulf, south- east Asian countries using fake documents. He was also involved in the failed attempt on the life of Chota Rajan in Bangkok in 2000. He killed Balu Dokre, an aide of Chhota Rajan in Kuala Lumpur, in 2005. He entered India about nine months ago via Nepal and thereafter has been moving from place to place.
Islamic Terrorism in India 