Although the police are tightlipped on the motive behind the murder of 37-year-old Ali, also known as Deewana in the crime world, sources said investigators have “definite clues” which stem from a combination of reasons, including personal enmity and gang rivalry.
Ali’s younger brother Nayaz believes that Mahim was responsible for the JD(S) corporator’s death. But the police seem to have gone beyond this angle and are pursuing clues which point to the hand of many “criminal elements” putting their heads together to plot Ali’s elimination. Mahim, sources said, is not traceable since Sunday’s murder.
Police sources said that Asghar, who is an under-trial and is lodged in a jail (whose location the sources were loathe to disclose), provided the logistics and the men who finally executed the plan to kill Ali. In this endeavour, another person, believed to be Afsar, alias Affi, who split from Ali’s gang some time ago when differences cropped up between them, was roped in. Afsar is the the son of Daru Faiz, who too had fallen out with Ali after the latter attacked his family members, including some women, near Hudson Circle a couple of years ago.
According to sources familiar with Ali’s rise in Bangalore’s crime world, he had created several enemies who nursed a grudge against him. When Ali took to crime, he worked for Chinchu Ismail, a one-time lorry cleaner who, along with his two sons, was killed by Deewana. Ali’s rise and simultaneous enmity with rowdies took place at a time when some of Bangalore’s criminal gangs had taken to the sand business in a big way.
It is reliably learnt that Ayaz, who fired at Ali, is another son of Chinchu Ismail’s daughter. The man who hacked Ali with a sword is Salim whose whereabouts the JD(S) corporator’s brothers are desperately trying to ascertain.
On their part, the investigators are trying to ascertain the background of one ‘Tanker’ Zameer, especially after they received intelligence that Afsar, Ayaz and Salim met at Mahim’s house behind NIMHANS in the Siddapura area.
Although a hardened history-sheeter, Mahim has “never been seen in action”, but is a “silent operator”, according to the police and underworld sources familiar with his style of operation.The one time that he did come face-to-face with Ali was at the session court two months back.
At that time, the two exchanged a few glances, but later Ali filed a complaint with the Ulsoor Gate police, alleging that he faced a threat to his life from Mahim.Sources said that Ali’s security cover was withdrawn after he got involved in a dacoity case near Bidadi on Mysore Road last year.
The case involved looting a huge amount of cash that a JD(S) MLA was carrying in his vehicle. The legislator, however, chose not to lodge a formal complaint, but the police nevertheless investigated the case and subsequently arrested Ali’s righthand Manju.
