Shakeel's aides involved in UP riots: Cops

The three aides of underworld don Chhota Shakeel, who were arrested by the City police recently, are said to have played a role in communal riots in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.

Sources in the police said that they obtained the information during the interrogation of the trio.

The police are tracking people who were in regular contact with Syed Nemath and his two aides who were arrested from Bismillah Nagar on Bannerghatta Road. The police said they arrested Nemath just when as he was expecting a “parcel”, containing a gun meant for an assassination mission. Nemath was acting at the behest of Shakeel, who is said to be holed up in Saudi Arabia. The trio was extorting money from businessmen across the country and sending it to Shakeel, the police said.

“They were also plotting communal clashes in various parts of the country. Nemath is an active member of several fundamental groups,” a senior police officer said.

Around seven months ago, the Gujarat police had tipped off their Bengaluru counterparts that this gang of three was threatening a businessman and since then the City police were tracking Nemath’s phone calls.