Police recovered worth Rs 9.28 lakh belonged to a NRI Rajesh Bhatte
diamond merchant from New Jersey who was murdered on March 23


SURAT, OCTOBER 28, 2004
TNN

: In a day-long interrogation by the Surat city police and Valsad district police on Thursday, Sanjay Singh and his five associates confessed to their involvement in one more murder at Vapi in February, besides other murders in Uttar Pradesh.


The six men were nabbed in a joint operation at Anvas village near Valsad on Sunday night,wherein Delhi youths abducted by them in Mumbai were rescued.

The culprits have links with Nepal-based extortionist Bunty Pande, a former Chhota Rajan aide.

The police claimed to have recovered from them valuables worth Rs 9.28 lakh, all which belonged to a deceased NRI Rajesh Bhatte, from their hideout at Bhilad near Valsad. Bhatte, a diamond merchant from New Jersey, was killed by Singh and others on March 23 here.

The men revealed their involvement in the murder of one Abuzar Kadirkhan (24), owner of a cement agency. Abuzar, son of a transporter Nashir Ahmed Kadirkhan was taken to Dholwad in Maharashtra and killed, said the police.

The accused had chopped off the head, wrapped it in a cloth and buried it. They put the torso in a cover and threw it in a river.

The culprits had recorded the victim's voice and sent it to the family to extort money. The modus operandi was to record the voice, kill the victim and then seek a ransom.

Claiming to be from Bunty Pande gang, they had demanded Rs 5 crore as ransom, the police said.

On Sunday night the police had nabbed these men on the charge of kidnapping two Delhi youths. All the accused have been remanded to police custody till November 4.