Runaway Mumbai gangster held from Guj in 1996 murder case

A suspected gangster was arrested today from Valsad in Gujarat, around 22 years after he jumped bail in a murder case, a Mumbai Police official said.

The accused Anil Gavande was a member of the K T Thapa gang which used to operate mainly in eastern suburbs of Mumbai during 1990s.

The arrest was made by unit VII of the crime branch of the Mumbai Police on a specific tip off, the official said.

Gavande is also wanted in three more cases of murder, including for allegedly killing members of a rival gang, and other offences, he said.

"Gavande had been arrested by the same crime branch unit VII for murder occurred under Mulund police station in 1987," said senior police inspector Anil Mane.

Gavande has been absconding since 1996, after he was granted bail by a Mumbai court in the murder case.

"He had shifted his base to Gujarat from Maharashtra since then," he said.

A court in Mumbai had recently issued a non-bailable warrant against Gavande.

He was produced before a local court which remanded him in judicial custody.