Fearing that the murder of Imtiaz, a business man who had connection with a quotation gang leader, would trigger more gang wars, the police are on their toes to prevent such incidents. The police believe that the gang with which Imtiaz had connections might retaliate over his death and this would create more problems for police.
They suspect that the murder took place due to rivalry between two gangs. Imtiaz, a close aide of Bhai Nazeer, might have been murdered by another quotation gang to get information about Nazeer who has been absconding for the past several months.
The police are monitoring the people working for quotation gangs so that the murder of Imtiaz might not spur more bloodshed between the gangs. “We are conducting combing operation to keep a tab on the gangs. Besides, the members of different quotation gangs are being interrogated,” they said.
According to police, the quotation gangs of Bhai Nazeer had strong rivalry with as many as six gangs in the city. Some of the attacks conducted by Nazeer and his men widened the rivalry and his opponents were waiting for his release from jail to take revenge.
However, Nazeer went into hiding as soon as he came out of prison.
In 2009, during a surprise inspection by the Judicial Magistrate at Mattanchery jail, two mobiles were seized from Nazeer’s possession. Nazeer, while in jail, had made money by threatening businessmen using his gang members. The money was diverted for various real estate deals and land-filling works.
Police said that Imtiaz had partnership with Nazeer in real estate deals.
However, the family members of Imtiaz told police that he was never seen along with such gang members. The bruises and wounds on his body made police suspect that he was tortured for getting some kind of information. There were cuts in his face and a black mark on an eye. He was stabbed in the legs, thighs and hands several times. The death occurred due to blood loss. His hands and body were tied to the car seat using a cloth. The police also recovered masks of Santa Claus from his car, indicating that the miscreants might have blocked Imtiaz’s car in the guise of Carol party before murdering him. They suspect that the murder might have occurred somewhere else.
The police found that a SIM number of Imtiaz which turned off in the midnight on the same day before his death has been used by some migrant labourers in Cheranelloor. They are yet to arrest the person who was using the SIM card.