JBT scam accused hatched plot to kill partner

NEW DELHI: Convicted bureaucrat Sanjeev Kumar’s plot to kill his partner-turned-rival is nothing short of a Hollywood crime thriller. The IAS officer, who was found guilty in the junior basic teachers (JBT) appointment scam in Haryana, had been granted bail on medical conditions after he started seeing ghosts. But the ghost-spotter disappeared in March when his conviction was upheld by the high court in 2013.
A non-bailable warrant was issued against him by CBI and a manhunt launched. A month later, Kumar was arrested by crime branch of Delhi Police on charges of hatching a plot to kill his partner-turned-rival, Tikka Hassan Mustafa alias Nawab. A day later, joint commissioner (crime) Ravindra Yadav elaborated on the sinister plot hatched by Kumar in connivance with gangster Shaukat Pasha, a life convict at Tihar jail who has around 100 cases lodged against him.
Kumar and Pasha’s friendship goes back to their days spent together in jail. Pasha had provided protection to Kumar when there were two attacks on him inside the jail. “Kumar gave supari to Pasha to kill Mustafa and held several meetings with the shooters. It was decided that he would take Mustafa to a restaurant and the shooters would fire when they exited. Kumar asked them to shoot him in the leg as well so that he could implicate former Haryana CM OP Chautala’s family for having carried out the strike,” Yadav said.
After the HC upheld his conviction, Kumar began to live in hiding at Mustafa’s house in New Friends Colony. Mustafa, a co-accused in a disproportionate assets case, had allegedly left his money with Kumar. When he asked for it, Kumar told him that it was spent in the trial. When Mustafa’s persisted, Kumar decided to get rid of him.
Additional CP Ashok Chand said that probe against Kumar started after getting an input about the conspiracy to kill Mustafa. “DCP Dinesh Gupta’s team comprising inspectors Vinay Tyagi and Vivek Tyagi identified the contract killers. The first one in the dragnet was shooter Taufiq who was nabbed from Nizamuddin with a pistol. He disclosed that gangster Shaukat Pasha had told him and his associates Asad and Aftab to commit a murder and ‘slightly injure’ one Sanjeev Kumar,” Chand said.
During interrogation, Taufiq disclosed that they had met Kumar several times and were also in touch with Pasha. Cops then picked up Kumar from a house in New Friends Colony. “Kumar tried to mislead the cops, but later broke down and confessed to planning the murder. Subsequently, another sharpshooter Manan was arrested and Pasha re-arrested from Tihar Jail. He corroborated the versions,” DCP (crime) Dinesh Gupta said.
Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi has given details to the enforcement directorate and they may initiate a probe soon.