Mumbai: Two alleged associates of underworld don Chhota Shakeel were arrested with two revolvers and eight live cartridges early morning on Saturday by the Andheri police. One of them, Aslam Abdul Satar Kudalkar, 36,was picked up near Laxmi Palace bar in Andheri (East) during a night patrol, while the other, Abid Abdul Rahman Sheikh, 34,was arrested near the Andheri Municipal School behind Natraj Studio following a tip-off.
They were produced in court and remanded to police custody till December 29."Preliminary investigation revealed that they were working for underworld don Chhota Shakeel," said senior police inspector Pradeep Suryavansi of the Andheri police station. "We received information that Sheikh would be visiting the area. We later found a person moving around suspiciously at midnight, trying to conceal something in his trouser pockets. We questioned him and recovered weapons from him." Police have also recovered one revolver and five live cartridges from Sheikh.
"After arresting Sheikh, I felt he would not have come to the area alone. So under the guidance of DCP KMM Prasanna, I instructed all my detection staff to increase patrolling in the area. They came across Kudalkar, who was also behaving suspiciously, at around 3.30 am near the Laxmi Palace Bar," Suryavansi added.
"When Kudalkar saw the police van, he tried to run away but two officers jumped out and nabbed him. We recovered one pistol and three live cartridges from him," added PSI Raghunath Patil.
"We are interrogating them about their plans and why they came to the area. They came armed, so it appears like they were about to commit a crime. We are also looking into their criminal record," said Suryavansi.
Both the accused are residents of Nagpada. The revolvers which were recovered by the police are imported and expensive; the market price of one of them is more than Rs one lakh.
