After arresting two hardcore criminals following a police encounter in the city late on Thursday night, the Commissionerate police on Friday confirmed that the March 29 firing on one Taheer Rehman under the Jagatpur police station here was the outcome of tender-fixing violence.
Taheer, who last month received gunshot injuries after he was attacked by three persons, is the elder brother of suspected Al-Qaeda terrorist Abdul Rehman. Abdul was arrested by the Delhi police from his house here at Madhya Kachha under Jagatpur police station in December 2015.
While the Cuttack police had arrested six persons in connection with attack on Taheer, police were looking for few others, including mastermind Sk Kala Babu alias Babu Khan, who also happens to be an active member of arrested Kendrapada-based tender mafia Tito alias Sk Usman Ali.
late on Thursday evening, police received information that Babu Khan accompanied by his associate Alekh Routray alias Denga are lazing around at Mahanadi riverbed near Bhadimul village in the eastern limits of the city under Chauliaganj police station.
“A special squad led by Chauliaganj IIC Ajay Das raided the place. Seeing the police, they started running. But when Alekh realized that they cannot escape in the open riverbed, he pulled out a gun from his waist and opened fire at the chasing policemen,” said city DCP Akhileswar Singh.
Exercising his right of private defence and to protect his colleagues, the IIC retaliated with his service revolver and fired at the duo, injuring both in their knees. Both were taken into custody and rushed to hospital, where their conditions are stated to be normal.
Police said Babu Khan, who has over ten criminal cases pending against him at various police stations of the city, was also wanted in last month’s firing case. The crime history of Alekh are now being collected from various police stations of the State, police said adding that the duo are now undergoing treatment in a hospital here.