Notorious sand smuggler Lateef in police net

NAGPUR: Rural police team netted one of region’s most notorious sand mafia Lateef Ansari from his home in Walni, Khaparkheda, on Thursday following a tip-off. Lateef had come to his place for 15 minutes when police team dramatically landed at his doorstep. He made a dash to escape but was caught after a chase.
Apart from rural police, their city counterparts too were on toes to nab Lateef and his brother Laiq for the last one month.Lateef and Laiq have been earlier booked under stringent Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) by city police.
Lateef had been booked for sand theft by Khaparkheda police around a month ago. Excavators along with other vehicles worth 90 lakh were seized during the action. Apart from Khaparkheda police, local crime branch (LCB) led by senior PI Sanjay Purandhare under superintendent of police, Nagpur rural, Anant Rokde too had been after Ansari brothers. Purandhare, who had earlier worked as Khaparkheda police station in-charge, already had informers in the locality.
It was one such informer who had tipped off the cops.
Purandhare said he had assigned Asst PI Nitin Rajkumar of Khaparkheda police station to rush to Walni to pick up Lateef. “It was not possible for LCB team to reach Walni in 15 minutes, so Khaparkheda police were intimated,” he said.
Woman Asst PI Anamika Mirzapure, holding charge of Khaparkheda police station, was among the ones who undertook prompt operation. “It was in cinematic manner that Lateef was nabbed whom we could not have allowed to flee at any cost. Our team was divided into groups to ensure the entire residential premises was surrounded by the cops. The raiding cops approached the house from different directions plugging all possible routes of escape,” she said.