Mangalore police today arrested six persons in connection with the murder of Naushad Kasim, who was the lawyer of underworld don Chota Shakeel's aide Rashid Malbari.
The arrested, identified as Dinesh, Ritesh, Ganesh, Prathap, Subramanya and Shiva Prakash, are said to be close associates of fugitive don Ravi Pujari. The police have seized 9mm pistols, three mobile phones, a gold chain and a car from them.
Background
Naushad Kasim, who was representing gangster Rashid Malbari, was gunned down near Lawnsway Hotel in the heart of Mangalore city while he was returning from a court, a couple of weeks ago.
Malbari, arrested on March 29, had allegedly hatched a conspiracy to assassinate some prominent persons in the country during the run up to the general elections and kidnap for ransom a prominent person from Udupi district.
Intelligence officials had tapped his conversation with gangster Chota Shakeel planning the assassination of BJP candidate Varun Gandhi and Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik. He confessed to the plotting. Malabari also has three other cases pending against him in Mumbai. He was a confidant of Anees Ibrahim and became close to Shakeel in 1997 after committing his first murder.