Dreaded sharp shooter of Abu Salem gang held in Delhi

A 35-year-old dreaded sharp shooter of underworld don Abu Salem's gang, wanted for making an attempt to murder his wife and involvement in extortion of Bollywood celebrities, has been arrested from the national capital.

The city police said Usman Khan was arrested from east Delhi's Pandav Nagar area on Thursday night, when he had gone to meet his associate there.

Usman Khan, along with his associate, had on June 3 last year fired at his estranged wife in Janakpuri of west Delhi. After the shooting, he had escaped to his friend Chakre Milan in Nepal to evade arrest, the police said.

A case of attempt to murder, based on the statement of his wife, was registered against him, the police said.

"Khan was earlier involved in circulating fake currency, extorting 'protection money' from Bollywood celebrities and several murder cases in Delhi and Mumbai," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Omvir Singh said.

"He took to crime after his visit to Mumbai in 1996, where he came in contact with one Waseem, a sharp shooter of Abu Salem gang," he said.

"During interrogation, Khan said that Waseem was also an accused in the killing of Gulshan Kumar, film producer and owner of Super Cassettes Industries Pvt Ltd, and had introduced him to Salem."

"Waseem later joined Abu Salem's gang and started circulating fake currency notes from Dubai to Karachi. He along with one of gang members, Aftab Bhatki, circulated fake currency notes in India through Nepal and Bangladesh routes, but he was later arrested in 2000," Singh said.

Usman Khan, after being released from a Mumbai jail, was again arrested for making extortion bid on film distributor Anil Thandani, husband of Bollywood actress Raveena Tondan. He also disclosed to have fired upon Punjabi singer Daler Mehandi and film producer Rakesh Roshan on the direction of Salem for extorting protection money," Singh added.

For not attending courts hearing, Usman Khan was declared a proclaimed offender and was arrested in 2015.

"Khan said that he, along with his associates, went to Mumbai in 2016 and had threatened a famous director, choreographer and his brother-in-law over a dispute on a movie released in 2015. He also contacted underworld don Chhota Rajan to eliminate him, but due to high security, they could not execute their plan," the DCP said.

Usman Khan also claimed to have threatened gangster Ravi Pujari, the police officer added.

--IANS

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