Chandresh Patel arrives from Bangkok

Ahmedabad: A team of Gujarat ATS landed in Ahmedabad from Bangkok on Thursday night with

Chandresh Patel

, the absconding fugitive wanted for masterminding the

attempted murder

of

Borsad

councillor

Pragnesh Patel

. ATS sources said Patel was arrested from Hotel Rekon in Bangkok in a joint operation with Thai police on Wednesday.

ATS SP Himanshu Shukla said while the accused was handed over to Anand Police on Friday afternoon, it emerged during his primary interrogation that a friend of his, Shyamgiri Goswami, had arranged his meeting with underworld don Ravi Pujari’s shooter Suresh Pillai of Thane.

“Chandresh, who was nursing an old enmity with Pragnesh over the cable network business in Borsad, was furious about an attack on him by Pragnesh’s brother Saket in October 2016. Moreover, the defeat of Chandresh’s mother Shanta Patel at the hands of Pragnesh in the recently-held local body elections added fuel to the fire,” said an ATS official.

ATS sources said Patel thought that if Pragnesh is eliminated, his associates would rather fade away. “Chandresh offered Suresh Pillai Rs 25 lakh to eliminate Pragnesh. Shyamgiri advised Chandresh to go to Bangkok before they executed the plan, and he hence flew there on January 10, before Pragnesh was shot on January 13. While Pragnesh survived the attack, ATS arrested three accused including Pillai,” said an ATS official.