Mumbai: Cops use khabris to net hardened criminal in Antop Hill firing

Vivek Chettiyar with the cops

A hardened criminal evading the police after a recent shooting at Antop Hill was nabbed by the Mumbai police Crime Branch on Tuesday with the help of an informers' network. Though the criminal identified as Vivek Chettiyar, 26, is booked in 13 cases of serious nature, six of these cases were registered after his release on parole during the pandemic.

The recent firing incident at Antop Hill had taken place on April 6, when the accused Chettiyar had allegedly barged into the house of Akash Kadam, 30, fired shots at him and fled from the scene.

"Kadam had lent Rs 7 lakh to Chettiyar which wasn't repaid. Kadam had visited Chettiyar's residence to enquire about the repayment. As Chettiyar was not home, Kadam confronted his wife Farhim and the two had a heated argument. We believe that it was Farhim who instigated her husband to attack Kadam," said a police officer from Antop Hill police station.

"After shooting Kadam, Chettiyar was going to shoot two more people. Our timely intervention saved two lives," said DCP (crime) Datta Nalawade. The crime branch had seized a country made pistol and six live cartilages from the accused.

The Antop Hill police have registered an FIR in this regard and commenced investigation. "Chettiyar had arrived at Antop Hill from Goregaon and he returned to Goregaon after committing the crime. He then went to Panvel and we acted on a tip-off and nabbed him from Kolegaon, Dombivli. He had planned to go to Nepal after killing two other people," said a police officer. Nabbing Chettiyar was not an easy task even in this age of technology as he did not use any phone. "He used to frequently change his location and did not use a phone. So we activated our informers' network and tracked him to Dombivli," said a police officer.

"His modus operandi was to go incommunicado after committing a crime. He was very well aware that the police are active for 2-3 days after crime is committed and hence he never contacted any one and kept changing his location," DCP Nalawade said.

On April 7, the Antop Hill police arrested Chettiyar's wife Farhim, 26. Chettiyar will be handed over to Antop Hill police station for further investigation by the crime branch. As Kadam survived the attack, Chettiyar and his wife were booked for attempt to murder and under the relevant sections of the Arms Act.

Thirteen
No. of cases against Chettiyar