Obed Radiowala who tried to kill Mahesh Bhatt brought to Mumbai

Obed Radiowala who was involved in the 2014 firing case was deported from the United States and is now in Mumbai police custody

Obed Radiowala who tried to kill Mahesh Bhatt brought to Mumbai

Pic courtesy/Suraj Ojha

Mumbai police successfully extradited one more fugitive gangster identified as Obed Radiowala from the United States after Danish Ali, the alleged aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was also deported by the United States. According to the police, Radiowala fled the country in the year 1999, after his aides left him behind in India. "He created a fake passport under a new name 'Rabitwala' to flee the country. Once he reached the United States he destroyed the fake passport and started living by his original identity," said a source.

He then brought his family to the U.S. where he started working as a sales representative for a famous mall and earned up to 1000 USD per week. Meanwhile, he was also in touch with Ravi Pujari and soon got involved in the shooting cases of Bollywood filmmakers Mahesh Bhatt and Karim Morani in 2014.

An officer said, "When Pujari allegedly contacted Radiowala and asked him how to proceed in recovering the extortion money from the two filmmakers, Radiowala suggested that his brother Anish Merchant was in Mumbai and would help him with the job. Merchant then followed Radiowala's instructions and hired shooters to fire some rounds at Karim Morani's house."

Later when the filmmakers approached the Mumbai police, who then registered an FIR against Radiowala, he was declared as a wanted accused and when a Red Notice India (RCN) was issued against him, the US agencies started an investigation to get him out of the country.

When the trial commenced against him, the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) charges were dropped by the trial court and the accused was convicted under the Indian Penal code and the Arms Act.

The MCOCA court on Wednesday stated that as the case no longer fell under its purview, Radiowala should be produced in a lower court. But the crime branch requested the court to continue the trial under the MCOCA act as there were several criminal cases against Pujari and the court hence extended his custody to another day.

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