Altaf Basi, aides plotted to kill witness at VS

AHMEDABAD: Police informer Altaf Basi and his associates who shot Sadik Shaikh dead near Kamdar Maidan on Tuesday night, were to eliminate Sadik’s brother Arif, who injured in the shootout and rushed to VS hospital, at the hospital.
Senior police officials said that soon after the shooting, they were tipped-off that Basi, Ishaq Ansari, his nephew Raju, Motu and Kayeem Ansari planned to shoot and eliminate Arif Shaikh at VS Hospital that night.
“We beefed up security at VS hospital in general and near Arif’s ward. We deployed armed guards to protect Arif, as he is an eyewitness to the shooting,” added a senior police official.
Meanwhile, crime branch teams were activated to nab their informer Basi and the other accused. “We raided a house in Shahpur belonging to a relative of Basi’s on Thursday evening. However, we found that Basi had just left the premises,” said a senior crime branch official.
Senior police officials said Basi, who has become a an extortionist in the area, being a crime branch informer, is well acquainted with the functioning of police and it is difficult to nab him. “We suspect that somebody in the police department may be leaking information to Basi, to help him avoid the police,” added a senior police official.
According to police sources, Basi had made an offer to surrender through police officers known to him, but it was rejected by police. “We want to show him what crime branch is. We will nab him and bring him to book,” added a police official.
Basi, his associates Ishaq Ansari, Kayeem Ansari, Motu and Raju had fired at Sadik and Arif Shaikh, with two pistols killing Sadik on the spot and injuring Arif critically, ostensible due to a dispute over a land deal.