Mumbai: Three convicted in Pakmodia firing case

The Special MCOCA court on Friday convicted three of the seven accused in the Pakmodia firing case. On May 17, 2011, two gunmen had fired outside the house of Dawood Ibrahim's brother, Iqbal Kaskar, on Pakmodia Street in south Mumbai, killing Kaskar's bodyguard-cum-driver Arif Syed Abu Bukha. Kaskar was not present at the site when the incident happened. (Read Story: Dawood's brother shot at, aide killed)

Special MCOCA court Judge A L Pansare convicted Indralal Khatri, Bilal Mustafa Ali Sayyed and Rashad Abdul Rashad Shaikh, under section 302 (murder), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of IPC. However, the MCOC act was dropped. The court also acquitted D K Rao, who is said to have financed the operation on the instruction of underworld gangster Chhota Rajan.

Iqbal Kaskar, Dawood Ibrahim's brother. File pic

Special Public prosecutor Ajay Misar examined 53 witnesses, which included three eyewitnesses. There were four witnesses who turned hostile.

Police had arrested seven accused; Indralal Khatri and Bilal Mustafa Ali Sayyed, who had pumped five bullets into Arif; Umed-Ul Rehman, an alleged Chhota Rajan gang member, who was suspected to have hatched the conspiracy; Rashad Abdul Rashid Shaikh, Adnan Sayed, Aasid Jan Mohammed Shaikh and D K Rao.

The prosecution and the defense will argue on quantum of sentence on August 19.