The murder of Mohd Faiyaz Ali, alias Depot Faiyaz (40), history-sheeter of Reinbazaar police station, was not a result of a gang war as believed earlier but was committed by some local people who were being harassed by him, the police said on Monday.
Seven persons allegedly involved in the murder committed three days ago at Nehrunagar were caught by the Commissioner’s Task Force (South) officials. Among the arrested was an auto-garage owner, Mohd Amjad, 43, who masterminded the killing, Joint Commissioner of Police Sanjay Kumar Jain said at a press conference.
Along with Amjad, six others - Syed Afzal, 41, Syed Abdul Gaffar Ali, 29, Mohd. Parvez, 34, Mohd Rafiq, 30, Mohd. Jahangir, 25, Mohith Ali, 27, - all daily wagers hailing from Madannapet - were also held. Faiyaz had been harassing Amjad for quite some time by forcibly collecting money from him. He never returned the money, and would threaten to kill the latter when he was asked to return it, Mr. Jain said.
Faiyaz was earlier picked up by the police in some criminal cases.
After being released, he began threatening Amjad and others accusing them of tipping off the police about his movements. Amjad, along with Afzal, who was also threatened by Faiyaz over some real estate disputes, planned and executed the killing with the help of five others.
Faiyaz was involved in about 60 cases including one murder case, eight extortion cases and more than 50 cases related to property offences registered in various police stations in the city.
Known as Depot Faiyaz, he was a close associate of Ayub Khan, also a history-sheeter from old city, presently serving jail term following conviction in a murder case.
The TF sleuths led by Inspector K.V. Surya Prakash Rao recovered five sickles from the arrested, who were later presented before a local court.