The Hindu : Front Page : Underworld don arrested near Nepal border

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 08, 2006

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Underworld don arrested near Nepal border

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Fazal-ur-Rehman wanted in connection with several cases of kidnapping, was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell at Sanauli along the Indo-Nepal border on Sunday.

He was wanted by the CBI and the Interpol had issued red corner notices against him.

Delhi Police Commissioner K.K. Paul on Monday said they had reliable inputs indicating that Fazal, who earlier operated from Dubai for seven years, shifted his base to Malaysia and then to Nepal last year. He started operating from Nepal so that he could visit his native place at Darbhanga in Bihar by crossing the porous India -Nepal border.

Although the police kept receiving inputs about Fazal's frequent visits to Darbhanga, they were unable to track him down, as he would change his route. However, on Sunday, a police team received a tip-off that Falzu would cross the border through Sonouli. Subsequently, a trap was laid.

During interrogation, Fazal allegedly confessed to having made threat calls to a Gujarat-based saree tycoon Pankaj Agarwal at the instance of Bollywood heroin Shilpa Shetty's parents about three years ago when he was operating from Malaysia.

The police said that Fazal entered the world of crime in 1988 when he was arrested in a kidnapping case. He was lodged in the Darbhanga jail for four years, during which he came close to a criminal named Jameel Khan. After being released, he started collecting protection money on Jameel's behalf.

Police said Fazal came to Delhi after Jameel was shifted to the Tihar Jail. In 1994, Jameel got Kanwaljit Singh kidnapped from the Patiala House courts. In 1995, Fazal was arrested in a case. In Tihar Jail, he came in contact with underworld don Babloo Srivastava. After being released, Fazal went to Dubai from where he began making extortion calls to businessmen.

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