Akhtar Merchant, an infamous high-profile criminal, and gangster Dawood Ibrahim's alleged former aide was arrested at Delhi airport after absconding for nearly three years by the Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar Police Crime Branch, according to NDTV reports on Monday.
Merchant, 60, is the sixth name on Interpol's Red Notice list, which is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
Wanted in connection with the 2023 firing on International Bakery in the Kashmira area, Merchant was arrested after returning to India from abroad.
Akhtar Merchant collaborated with another notorious criminal Nisar Ahmed Sheikh alias 'Pappu Pager' in an alleged conspiracy to extort a guthka selling businessman referred to as Babu. Babu resided in the Kashmira area of Mira Road, Mumbai. The businessman was allegedly threatened over the phone by the two criminals and asked to pay extortion money.
When Babu reportedly refused to go along with their demands, the accused allegedly hired a gunman Akbar Shaikh to fire at employees in the bakery in 2023. Shaikh's gun jammed according to The Times Of India, failing to discharge any bullets, after which he was subsequently taken into police custody.
The Kashimira Police Station registered an FIR numbered 700/2023 against the accused after this incident. The law enforcement agents invoked Sections 307, 384, 120(B) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of the Arms Act and the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
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The Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar Police Crime Branch had received information through Interpol that Merchant was abroad, after which they began surveillance of Delhi airport. They arrested him as soon as he entered India.
Merchant will be brought to Mira-Bhayandar police station on Tuesday where he will face further questioning.
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