11 April,2009 01:50 PM IST | | Imran Gowhar
Naushad Kashim (37), arguing for a D-Company shooter in Mangalore, told colleagues nervously he needed to rush home. Within minutes, he was shot dead in his apartment car park
Naushad Kashim, D-Company sharpshooter Rasheed Malbari's advocate, had a premonition someone would kill him yesterday.
Kashim had told colleagues in the afternoon he needed to hurry home. That had puzzled them, but they could gather nothing more.
As gunmen ambushed Kashim, heu00a0 rushed to take cover inside his apartment, but they sprayed him with bullets. Naushad bled to death in the car park.
Naushad was returning from court when he was attacked. The judge ordered judicial custody for Rashid till April 24. Armed with a pistol, Rashid was in Mangalore allegedly to murder Rama Sene chief Pramod Mutalik when he was caught. Police say he confessed he was also out to kill Varun Gandhi.
Naushad had been receiving threat calls ever since he took up Rashid's case last week. A journalist had called him three hours before he was shot dead. He had briefed him about the court proceedings, promised to call back, and cut the connection.
Poojary claim
Minutes after the murder, a man who identified himself as Ravi Poojari called TV9 in Mangalore and claimed responsibility.
The Kannada channel ran an audio clip of his phone call in Hindi. Poojari, a wanted criminal hiding in Monaco, said his boys had killed Naushad because the advocate had been on gangster Chota Shakeel's payroll. "We will not tolerate traitors," he said.
The caller claimed he was serving the country by eliminating Dawood's men. He said he would kill Rashid Malbari as well.
Poojari had also claimed responsibility for the murder of two employees of Shabnam Developers in Bangalore two yearas ago. He had said he wanted to get its boss Samiulla.
Suspects arrested by the Bangalore police are out on bail for lack of evidence. Poojari alleged the corporator-turned-builder was linked to Dawood Ibrahim.
Cops sceptical
Senior police officersu00a0 who rushed to the spot in Mangalore yesterday were sceptical about Poojari's claim. "He could just be using the shooting to scare businessmen," a senior policeman told MiD DAY.
Earlier this week, a Mangalore newspaper had received calls threatening attacks if Malbari were not released.
Police said that the advocate was alone at home on Thursday as his family was away at Bhatkal, a coastal town in Karnataka.
They suspect Chota Rajan, a rival of Chota Shakeel, is behind the shooting. Malbari had made an attempt on the life of Chota Rajan in Bangkok some years ago.
Kashim had been practising law under senior advocate Purshothama Poojary. He had studied at SDM Law College in Mangalore.
Mangalore Bar Council president S P Chengappa condemned the murder and condoled his death.
