BHOPAL: The man who attempted the contract killing of Telangana Youth Congress leader Vikram Goud at his Hyderabad residence on July 28 was an out-of-business chicken seller from Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
Acting on inputs from Hyderabad police, the Indore police crime branch arrested the accused, 32-year-old Rayees Khan from Kabootarkhana (Pandrinath) area of West Indore on Tuesday evening.
Rayees, who had shot Goud twice after intruding into Goud’s residence with an aide on July 28, had attempted contract killing for the first time in his life.
Indore DIG Harinarayanchari Mishra told the New Indian Express on Wednesday, “Rayees used to supply Aseel chicks and pugnacious genre of pigeons for chicken and pigeon-fight lovers in Indore and neighbourhood. But for the last few months, his business had hit a nadir owing to negligible demand for such chicks and pigeons.”
Rayees, over the time, while sourcing the Aseek breed of chicken from Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, developed close ties with one Ahmad, a native of Ananthpura district of Andhra Pradesh.
“In the first week of July, Ahmad along with two friends came to Indore and stayed at Rayees’s house in Kabootarkhana area. Ahmad asked Rayees to arrange a pistol and bullets,” said DIG Indore. Rayees sourced a pistol and bullets from another Indore resident Sadiq for Rs 25,000 and handed it over to Ahmad, who returned with the small arm and bullets to Hyderabad.
Indore police crime ASP Amrendra Singh, “A few days later, Ahmad rang Rayees and asked him to come to Hyderabad for a big-buck task. After Rayees reached Hyderabad, Ahmad arranged his stay at a hotel. Ahmad paid entire Rs 1.5 lakh for Goud’s contract killing and Rayees agreed to execute crime possibly the first crime of his life as his business was in doldrums.”
Ahmad subsequently arranged a motorbike by which he and Rayees went to Goud’s house in Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills area on July 28. After intruding into the Youth Congress leader’s house, Rayees opened fire on Goud twice, inflicting wounds on latter’s chest, spine and arms. Goud’s life, however, was saved by team of doctors at Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad.
After opening fire, both Ahmad and Rayees fled from the spot after which Rayees returned to Indore the next night.
Indore DIG Mishra continued, “On Tuesday evening, the Hyderabad police gave us the inputs about Rayees’s involvement in the high profile attempted contract killing. Within an hour, we picked up Rayees for questioning, during which he admitted committing the crime, which was possibly the first crime of his life. A team of Hyderabad police arrived a few hours later and returned with Rayees on Tuesday night itself.”
The sum of Rs 1.5 lakh paid by Ahmad to Rayees has also been recovered by the police.