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Police apprehended a 37-year-old murder convict last week who had skipped parole while serving a life sentence and was absconding since July. The accused, a resident of Mira Road, is a gangster with affiliations to the Mumbai underworld, the police claim.
According to the police, the accused, Sachin Gajanand Shethe, serving a life sentence in a murder case at Nashik Road jail, had been on the run since he skipped his parole in July. Shethe had changed his appearance by wearing a wig and growing a beard to avoid police.
“We got a tip-off from an informant that the accused was in Kamala Raman Nagar, Baiganwadi. We picked him up on 17 November, but were not sure of his identity. After further investigation, we found out,” said police sub-inspector Bhamare, the investigating officer in the case at Shivaji Nagar police station.
“He was wearing a wig and had grown a beard. He had assumed a Muslim identity, claiming his name was Sohail and that he was from Kanpur. But his accent was suspicious. He even had both his ears pierced, which Muslims rarely do. Further interrogation revealed his true identity,” the officer added.
According to the officer, Shethe, popularly known as Sachin Shetty in the underworld, had committed his first murder in 2000 and a case under the section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against him in Borivli railway police station. He was then sent to Arthur Road jail. Shethe, while in jail, was in contact with Dawood Ibrahim’s gangsters, the police believe. Later, he allegedly murdered an inmate at Arthur Road jail in an inter-gang conflict. He has been moved to many jails since. The police also believe Shethe was in touch with Abu Salem.
Shethe began operating his own gang and extortion racket from a jail cell in Byculla. In 2008, he was booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) by the anti-extortion cell. He was involved in an another murder case, where a security guard at a showroom was killed in a botched hit.
According to the police, the owner of the showroom was the supposed target. In 2013, another case of extortion was registered against Shethe, for allegedly extorting Rs 36 lakh from a corporator in Mira Road. In 2014, Shethe was caught with a weapon in his possession while he was out on parole in Navghar, Mulund. Police registered another case against him under sections 3 and 25 of the Arms Act.
According to the police, Shethe was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Mumbai High Court in the 2000 murder case and the Supreme Court of India rejected his review petition.
In June, 2016, after receiving permission for parole from Nashik Road jail, where he had been lodged in an ‘anda cell’ (an egg-shaped jail cell reserved for hardened criminals) he ran away. Another case, under section 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension) of the IPC, was registered against him at Mira Road.
Since July, Shethe had been absconding and had changed his appearance and identity, complete with a fake background story, to throw police off his trail. Shivaji Nagar police has handed him over to Nashik Road jail.