He and his gang were plotting to attack politicians and disrupt elections
He and his gang were plotting to attack politicians and disrupt elections
Rashid Malbari, key shooter of the Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Shakeel gang was arrested close to Ullal, a town near Mangalore, by the Department of Criminal Intelligence Bureau (DCIB) sleuths led by officer Venkatesh Prasanna.
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According to the DCIB officials, the Intelligence Bureau had tipped them about Malbari, who had been contracted by a man named Ismail to gun down a local politician in Kasargod, Kerala. It was in a bungalow on the outskirts of Ullal that Malbari was finally arrested.
The police have seized two pistols, credit cards mobile phones and Rs 19,000 cash from them.
'Special assignment'
The Intelligence Bureau reportedly stumbled upon the fact that Malbari was heading to India on a 'special assignment' after overhearing a telephonic conversation. They kept a close watch on the movements of Malbari and his associates before nabbing them.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Malabri was coordinating attempts to disrupt the general elections by extortion, kidnapping and even assassinating prominent political leaders in the fray.
Director general and inspector general of police, Ajay Kumar Singh said, "Rasheed is wanted in five murder cases including one in Malaysia and is on the Interpol scanner. He went missing 13 years ago and was living outside India. He came to India nine months ago via Nepal."
Terror links
"We are investigating whether the instructions to disrupt the polls were given by Dawood's right hand Chota Shakeel or by Pakistan-based terror outfits," the police sources said.
Who is Malbari?
Rashid Malbari launched himself into the upper echelons of the Mumbai underworld in September 2000, when he opened fire on rival gangster Rajendra Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan in Bangkok, injuring him seriously. Four years later, Malbari killed Rajan's second-in-command Balu Dokre in Malaysia. Malbari is also believed to have been assigned the task of eliminating encounter specialists Vijay Salaskar and Daya Nayak .
Rashid Malbari became active in Mumbai after Raja Gore, a frontline Chhota Rajan shooter, killed Malbari's elder brother Ismail outside Vikhroli Court in 2007.u00a0 Shortly after, Malbari fled the country and began operating from Karachi and Bangkok after the Crime Branch began baying for his blood.
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