Close to arresting Deonar fire kingpin, say police

Mumbai: Though the Deonar police arrested nine scrap dealders for causing fire at the dumping ground and damage to public property, it could not secure the accused's custody even for a day. The court remanded all the accused in judical custody for 14 days.
The police could interrogate the accused only for a few hours since they had to rush them to a nearby hospital for their medical check up before producing them in court.
"We will be making some major arrests soon, including the kingpin of the fire case," said Sangramsingh Nishandar, zonal deputy police commissioner.
Those arrested don't have licence or authority to conduct business. "They would buy only metals from boys and men. If someone came with anything that contained metal, the accused would tell them to go and burn the item and bring the metal only. We have come to know about the kingpin and will be nabbing them soon," said a police officer.
The police arrested Shameem Shaikh, Ali Baba, Shoaib Shaikh, Hussain Shaikh, Rajesh Mhadik, Umar Gani, Mohammed Shaikh and Jay Prakash for their alleged involvement in connection with the March 20 fire. The police had registered two separate cases for March 20 and January 28 fire incidents at the dumping ground. Its still not clear whether the same accused will be booked in the first case.