Notorious criminal, two aides arrested after encounter with police

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A criminal who has several cases registered against him and his aide were injured in an encounter with Navi Mumbai police in neighbouring Raigad district Saturday, a senior official said.

Bullets fired by Faiyaz Khalid Shaikh, a history-sheeter, hit two police officers who escaped unhurt as they were wearing bulletproof jackets, police claimed. Shaikh and his two aides were arrested by police.

The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday at Nadhal village in Khalapur tehsil, said Navi Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Tushar Joshi. Police were looking for Shaikh for the last few months and he was spotted at Kahanvade toll plaza in Virar in neighbouring Palghar district on October 14, he said.

A police team tried to nab him then but he escaped after opening fire on them, Joshi said.

On Friday, Shaikh and his aide Haji Pir Mohammed Shaikh alias Salim allegedly committed two thefts in Kharghar area of Navi Mumbai and fled in a stolen car, the official said.

A team of Navi Mumbai police raided a house in Nadhal village early Saturday morning on learning that the duo and Shaikh's another accomplice were hiding there. While trying to flee, Shaikh opened fire on police from his pistol, the DCP said.

The bullets hit two police officers who escaped injury as they were wearing bulletproof jackets, he said. Two other officials were also injured during the chase, Joshi added.

Despite sustaining a bullet wound, Shaikh ran for some distance but was chased and nabbed around 1.5 km from the house. Shaikh, Salim and his another alleged aide, Sakharam Pawar, were arrested.

Shaikh and Salim were admitted to a private hospital as both sustained injuries in the police's retaliatory firing, DCP Joshi said.

Shaikh has at least 90 offenses registered against him including chain-snatching, theft, attempt to murder as well as three cases of attacking police personnel, he said,

According to police, he was active in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, and Ratnagiri districts of Maharashtra, and also in Gujarat.

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