Mumbai, July 15: A 24-year-old woman was arrested by the Mumbai crime branch on Tuesday for allegedly supplying weapons to the four shooters of the Chhota Shakeel gang who were planning to kill two advocates, including the lawyer of sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused in the Malegaon bomb blasts case. The shooters were arrested a few days ago.
Nikhat Ansari is a close aide of Shakeel and had direct contacts with the don, the police said. Joint commissioner of police and chief of the Mumbai crime branch Rakesh Maria said that Ansari was recruited to deliver weapons, since a woman does not attract much attention of the police and can slip through security checks. “She was given the responsibility of collecting money or weapons and ensuring the delivery of the weapons wherever required,” Maria said.
The police suspect Ansari has been working for Shakeel since 2008 and that she had supplied two weapons to the shooters — Mohammed Ismail Ghachchi, alias Doctor, 44; Kamal Anwar Ibzi, alias John, 24; Shahid Mohammed Ali Faki, alias Babu, 26; and Arvindkumar Pathak, alias Panditji, 26, who were arrested on July 3. The crime branch had recovered a 9mm and a 7.65 mm pistols, 13 live cartridges, two knives, six mobile phones and a motorbike were recovered from them. “The two guns were brought from Uttar Pradesh to Jogeshwari. Ansari picked up the weapons from Jogeshwari and took them outside Mumbai to deliver it to the gang,” Maria said.
However, the gang failed in its mission and Ansari brought the weapons back to Mumbai. “The weapons were again delivered to the gang on the day they were planning another attack, but were arrested by the crime branch before that,” Maria said. Maria said that in 2006 Ansari was working as a salesgirl in a mobile shop in Dongri. “The shop was run by Ghachchi, who was arrested last week. Ghachchi coaxed her into joining the gang,” Maria said.
The police said Ansari was paid Rs20,000 to Rs25,000 per month by the gang. She is a resident of BDD Chawl on NM Joshi Marg, they said.
–Agencies