Chota Rajan aide held for triple murders

The Khar police on Friday arrested a Chota Rajan associate who was allegedly involved in a triple murder in the year 2000 in Panvel. According to police, he had changed his identity and had been living in Bhandup under an alias. However, his luck ran out when Khar police arrested him in connection with a chain snatching case. During interrogation, he also confessed to the murders.

According to police, Dinesh Palekar alias Vijay Naik along with his associates were involved in the murders of three men, Vinod Shetty, Shankar Iyer, and Mohammad Shakil, on New Panvel road at the behest of fugitive gangster Chhota Rajan. In September 2000, fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim with the help of Shetty reportedly tracked Rajan's location to Bangkok, after which Dawood's men carried out firing on Rajan and his trusted aide Rohit Varma. Rajan escaped, but sustained bullet injuries and was admitted to a Bangkok hospital. To take revenge, Rajan allegedly ordered his men to bump off Shetty and his friends.

The police produced Palekar before a court on Saturday, which remanded him to three days' police custody.