Updated on: 25th September 2023 3:55 PM IST | Mumbai
S S Nadar | news@debotimes.in

Two accused including one shooter was arrested in the case earlier and after two years a third accused has been arrested in the daylight killing which shocked the neighourhood
Thane

The Thane crime branch police has arrested an accused in the murder of MNS leder Jamil Shaikh, who shot dead by two assailants on a bike in Rabodi area in November 2020, after two years.

The arrested man has been identified as Habib Shaikh, 36, who was linked with the wanted prime accused Osama Shaikh, the Thane crime branch sources said. Through technical details and interrogation of two other accused arrested in the case, they learnt that Habib Shaikh was in touch with the main shooter Osama Shaikh, who has been absconding.

An officer said, “ Habib was on our radar since his link with the wanted accused Osama was established. We were searching for him through social media (videos, pictures) and other sources and got his details which led to his arrest.”

The police continue to search for prime accused Osama and his arrest is likely to throw light on the crim’s possible link with political parties.

Two unidentified persons came on a bike opened fire on Jamil Shaikh, 49, in broad daylight, killing him in Rabodi in November 2020. Jamil, president of one of the civic wards in Thane, had stood for Thane Municipal Corporation election twice from Rabodi on a MNS ticket and was an active party worker.

The biker riders were wearing helmets and hence could not be identifed initially, but after analyzing all CCTV footage and technical details, two accused were arrested in the case. Irfan Sonu Shaikh, 24, a shooter and Shahid Shaikh, 31, who provided shelter to Irfan and later escape from the spot, were arrested in the case.

After the murder, Irfan first fled to Nashik and took a bus to Gorakhpur, where he was hiding for a few days, and recently moved to Lucknow from where he was arrested. During his questioning, Irfan told the police that the contract to kill Jamil was given to them by Osama for a sum of ?2 lakh.

One of the accused, Osama, called Shahid and Irfan on November 23 to his residence in Rabodi. He allegedly told the two to carry out the murder of Jamil on the same day. Irfan went to Shahid’s place, where Osama’s two-wheeler was parked, changed clothes and took the bike to Rabodi Masjid. They fired at Jamil when he came out of the masjid.