BENGALURU: Seven people, including two rowdy-sheeters, were arrested for the brutal murder of 38-year-old rowdy-sheeter Hyder Ali early on Sunday near Garuda Mall, in the Ashoknagar police station limits. An old rivalry is being cited as the reason for the murder.
The arrested have been identified as Nayyaz Pasha alias Naju, who has eight cases against him in Ashoknagar police station; Darshan, Raheed, and Waseem, all residents of Bengaluru; Rizwan, a rowdy-sheeter from Shivamogga; and Mateen and Saddam, also from Shivamogga.
According to the preliminary investigation, Pasha, the prime accused in the case, hatched a plot with his gang to kill Ali. There had been a long-standing enmity between Pasha and Ali, with both making multiple attempts to kill each other over the years. The investigation also revealed that both had been attacked twice by rival gangs in the past.
Around 1.30 am on February 24, Pasha, along with his gang, executed their plan. They divided themselves into two groups, one which tracked Ali’s movements and the other which waited near the football stadium. As Ali was heading home with a friend after a party at a pub on Church Street, a few bikers followed him.
As he neared Garuda Mall, a car intercepted his bike, and the gang pounced on him. They first stabbed him and then brutally assaulted him with lethal weapons, the police said, adding that a special team was formed under the Cubbon Park Sub-Division Assistant Commissioner of Police to investigate the case.
The police further said that four accused were detained on Tuesday and questioned, leading to the arrest of three more suspects. All seven were produced before court, which remanded them in police custody. The police are now interrogating the accused to determine if others were involved in the crime. They have confirmed that an old rivalry was the motive behind the murder.