Mumbai: Hard-partying parole jumper escapes again!

Azam Aslam Butt, the dreaded criminal

Murder convict Azam Aslam Butt, 47, a Santacruz resident arrested for killing a 25-year-old man in 2005, has jumped parole again. He has been absconding since last month. A team of the Nagpur police has been camping in Mumbai to arrest him. Nagpur's Kalmana police have registered an FIR. mid-day has done a series of stories on how Butt secures parole using his contacts in Nagpur jail and then jumps it.

He has more than 13 criminal serious offences of cheating, jumping parole, extortion, assault and many more against him at Oshiwara, Santacruz, Kherwadi, Porvorim in Goa, Shivaji Nagar, Nalasopara, JMFC in Nagpur and Juhu police stations.

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Vishwanath Gharat with his mother and sister

He is serving life imprisonment at Nagpur Jail in connection with the murder of property dealer Kashinath Gharat, a resident of Santacruz. This is the fourth time Butt has jumped parole in this case.

Released on parole

Butt was released from the Nagpur Jail on parole on April 7 for 28 days and should have returned to the jail before 5 pm on May 6. However, he hasn't returned to the jail. The Nagpur jail authorities informed the Kalamna police and registered an FIR against Butt.

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Kashinath Gharat

An officer from Kalamna police station said, "Azam Butt is prisoner number C9589 at Nagpur jail and he didn't return after his parole period was over. On May 8 we received a letter from the Nagpur Jail regarding this. We checked his records and registered the FIR against him under Section 224 of the IPC (Resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension)."

"Our team is in Mumbai hunting Butt. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment. We will arrest him soon," a police officer further said.

Butt allegedly threatened the family of Gharat. In January, he was found partying with three Nagpur policemen in a Mumbai hotel, and also picnicking at Matheran and Mahabaleshwar. Butt also posed for photographs outside the Juhu police station paying tribute to the cops who lost their lives in the 26/11 terror attacks, which midday reported.

Before his conviction in the Gharat murder case, Butt repeatedly got bail in the cases registered against him. He apparently forged witness documents and got them verified by a Nalasopara cop. His lie was exposed after the Bombay High Court asked the Oshiwara police to verify the witness documents. The Oshiwara police found the document to be fake and registered a case against Butt, two cops from the Nalasopara police station and an unknown person. However, the Nalasopara police never took any action against the cops or Butt.

‘A big threat'

Gharat's brother Vishwanath told mid-day, "Someone from Nagpur prison helps Butt to secure parole and he comes out of the jail. It's a big threat to me and my family. I want Butt to spend his entire life in jail as he killed my brother. I called the jail a thousand times to not to give him parole but Jail authorities never understood this and are endangering my life. I wrote a letter to the jail which got no reply. I also wrote to them urging them to take action against the three constables who helped Butt get parole and were seen partying with him. Butt killed my brother and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He should be in jail."

"Now Butt is in Mumbai but he is trying to leave India as I found from my sources. The police should arrest him before he flees," Gharat further said.

On June 21, 2014, Butt was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Kashinath Gharat in 2005. Butt was supposed to return R14 lakh to Kashinath, but only returned Rs 10 lakh. When the victim demanded the rest of the money, Butt and his friends killed him in Oshiwara and burnt his body and threw it into a nullah to destroy the evidence.