13 years on, Poojary's aide who jumped bail caught in Bengaluru

An associate of gangster Ravi Poojary who allegedly jumped bail in a 13-year-old double murder was caught in northeastern Bengaluru on Thursday.

The CCB said it arrested 45-year-old Ikhlaq Qureshi near Bagalur Cross. A CCB team under inspector H K Mahanand went to Nagamangala, Qureshi's current place of stay in Mandya district, to arrest him but he had moved to Bengaluru by then, said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Sandeep Patil.

Qureshi, a native of Muzzafarnagar, UP, is an accused in the 2007 double murder that occurred at Shabnam Developers, Tilak Nagar. He had allegedly supplied two pistols to a few associates of Poojary who later shot dead a receptionist and a driver at the builder's office. Qureshi was arrested the same year and jailed but he later got bail and absconded, skipping trial. He was hiding for the past 13 years, Patil said.

"Qureshi sourced the guns from UP with the help of one Azad, another associate of Poojary's," Patil added. Qureshi stayed back in Karnataka as the Muzzafarnagar police had booked him under the Arms Act. He started a garment business and kept a low profile, Patil said.

In February, the CCB brought Poojary from Senegal and charged him in the double murder in June.