Two held for plot to bump off lawyer

MANGALORE: Sleuths of the District Crime Intelligence Bureau (DCIB) on Wednesday raided the city court area and arrested two armed men who planned to eliminate two lawyers.
A press release from in-charge SP R Ramesh on Thursday named the accused as Muhmmad Iqbal (30) of Thiruvail village, and Abdul Altaf (21) of Marnamikatte in Mangalore taluk.
Ramesh stated that the accused planned to eliminate a lawyer to avenge the murder of Naushad Khasimji, the advocate for D-Company hitman Rashid Malbari last year.The two accused, along with 10 others had previously gone to the office of the lawyer they intended to target but had to change their plans owing to the presence of people there. They had collected enough weapons to carry out their nefarious designs.
Some of those accused of being involved in the murder of BJP leader Sukhananda Shetty in 2006 too are involved in this latest attempt to kill the lawyer, Ramesh stated adding that the above two accused were caught with weapons when they were lying in wait near the lawyers' office. The duo had used a stolen motorcycle fixed with a fake license plate, Ramesh stated, adding that the DCIB team has seized the motorcycle.
Mohammad Iqbal, Ramesh stated, is also an accused in the petrol bombing attack on newspaper offices in the city, as well as attempts to forcibly close down business establishments in Bunder area following reports of the death of the then qazi of Mangalore at Kasargod. Iqbal, wanted by the police for these incidents, had managed to evade arrest all this long. Altaf too is an accused in the Chethan Shetty murder case.
Police have definite information on the involvement of more persons in this attempt to murder the lawyer, Ramesh stated adding efforts are on to arrest them. DCIB sleuths recovered two motorcycles, three mobile phones, Rs 8,000 in cash, two license plates, and helmets from them. Stating that the accused have been handed over to judicial custody, Ramesh stated police would seek their custody to further interrogate them.