Unpaid supari killer warns MNS leader of party worker's plot to murder him

A Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) worker allegedly issued a supari for the murder of his party's vice-president. When adequate payment did not follow the orders, the contract killer turned on him and informed the MNS leader of the plot that had been hatched to bump him off.

The accused has been identified as Jaan Shah, an MNS worker from Kurla (West). Officers of the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested Shah on Saturday.

Vengeful: According to the MNS vice-president Haji Arafat Shaikh, he had advised chief Raj Thackeray to decline an invitation given to him by the accused Jaan Shah; angry at being snubbed, Shah plotted Shaikh's murder

According to the police, Shah recently joined the MNS and had even invited MNS Chief Raj Thackeray to the inauguration of his office in Kurla.

When Haji Arafat Shaikh - who is vice-president of the party and president of its transport wing - learnt about the invitation, he informed Thackeray about Shah's dubious track record.

"Shah had cheated several people on the pretext of giving them flats in Mumbra, and when the people came to ask for their money, he intimidated them by telling them he was an MNS member," alleged Shaikh, adding, "After I informed Raj Saheb, he did not go to Kurla for the inaugural programme, and this angered Shah."

"Shah then contracted a certain Suleman Patel, meeting him at Konkan Queens Hotel in Mumbra," said Dinesh Ahire, senior police inspector of the Mumbai Crime Branch, (unit V). "Patel, who had worked earlier with some underworld gangs, was promised Rs 5 lakh and a flat in Mumbra, in return for killing Shaikh," he added.

Double crossed
But Shah only paid Rs 50,000 as advance, and not Rs 1 lakh as he had promised, and disagreements cropped up over the non-payment. Shah then asked Patel to return the amount, telling him that he would assign the dirty deed to someone else.

"Eager to avenge himself for the snub, Patel met one Ashfaq Shaikh and narrated what had happened. Ashfaq in turn took him to Haji Arafat Shaikh. Shaikh accompanied Patel to the police station and lodged a complaint with the Kurla police about the matter. After investigating the matter, we arrested Shah," said Ahire.