44-year-old man held in Mumbai for double murder

Mumbai man held for double murder. (Representational Image)

A 44-year-old man was arrested in Mumbai on Saturday, two months after he had allegedly shot dead two people in the Union Territory of Daman and Diu. Unit 3 of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch arrested Mohammad Hassan Siddiqui at Byculla railway station early on Saturday morning following a tip-off.

Siddiqui was wanted by the police in Daman and Diu for the murders of scrap trader Ajay Mehta and his friend Dhiraj Mehta in Dabhel on April 2. The police said Mehta also ran a bootlegging business and had been involved in a violent rivarly with another bootlegging gang in the UT.

“The deceased had recently been released on bail after committing the murder of a rival. However, in the time that he had spent behind bars, another gang had taken over his bootlegging operations,” said a crime branch official.
According to the police, the deceased had been travelling in a car in Dabhel on April 2 when another vehicle hit theirs. The men ran into a country liquor bar nearby to hide but were chased down by the attackers who shot 12 rounds at them.

Sidduqi, who the police claim was hired to kill Ajay Mehta, was wearing a helmet to hide his face during the attack, the police said. The Mumbai Police has handed over his custody to the Daman and Diu Police. “The accused is from Uttar Pradesh but has been living in Mumbai for several years. He had been running a bootlegging ring in Daman and Diu for a long time,” the official added.