VADODARA, DECEMBER 17, 2004
TNN
Navrang Brahmbhatt is suspected to be the prime conspirator
in a murder case. The police said that sitting in
the US he gave the contract to eliminate another NRI.
Yet, despite unravelling the conspiracy bringing him
here might prove to be a daunting task. In a sensational
case here, the police managed to detain planners and
shooters in the NRI murder case. But the hitch is
to get Navrang Brahmbhatt who gave the contract from
the US. Navrang, according to the police, had a financial
row with victim Manoj Patel.
To sort this out and gain financial advantage Navrang
hatched the conspiracy to eliminate Patel when he
visited India. Navrang asked his brother Pradeep alias
Buchio to ensure that Patel was eliminated during
this trip to the city. Pradeep contacted hatchet men
who eventually gunned Patel down on April 4.
Pradeep and others have been arrested in the case,
but officers feel that there is little that they can
do about Navrang. They believe that the only opportunity
could be if he came to India and they got the information.
Police commissioner Sudhir Sinha said that the only
evidence that the police had against Navrang was statement
by other accused.
"As per the extradition treaty with US an accused
can be handed over to us only if the evidence against
him is admissible in courts of law of both the countries,"
he said. Sinha added that statements given to the
police are not admissible as per the Indian law.
"Given this situation, making a case for Navrang's
extradition will be difficult," Sinha said. So
far the Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) has arrested
six men in the case. These include Kalpesh Kachhia
and Kiran Jingar to whom Pradeep had given the task
of arranging for a shooter.
The shooter Freddy alias Frederick Martin Macwan
and his two accomplices Sunil alias Babu alias Sanjay
Sharma as well as Ikbal alias Bablu Saiyed were also
arrested. The police also arrested Paresh Chauhan
who was serving term here and had roped in the shooters
on being contacted by Jingar.
Bablu had allegedly stolen a motorcycle near Inox
multiplex. Sharma and Macwan used the vehicle to kill
Patel when he slowed down at a speed-breaker on the
Akota Road. It was Macwan who allegedly fired the
shot.
