Second arrest in 2009 Ajay Bhosale firing case

Bhosale was the candidate for the Wadgaon Sherry constituency. CID had also named fugitive underworld don Chotta Rajan in the chargesheet.

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The person arrested has been identified as Mohammad Rafiq Abdul Samad Sheikh alias Shankar, a resident of Chembur, Mumbai. He was lodged in Taloja Jail in connection with the murder of Rajan's henchman Farid Tanasha in 2010.

The target: Shiv Sena leader Ajay Bhosale was shot at in 2009. File pic

The state investigation agency had already filed a chargesheet against Mohammad Saqib Shahnawaz Alam Khan (24) of Bhandup, Mumbai, on December 27, 2010. Khan, a sharpshooter of Bharat Nepali gang, was also arrested in the murder case of Tanasha.

At around 10.30 am on October 11, 2009, Bhosale along with his party workers was going to Vadgaosheri for campaigning in an SUV. Two men on a motorcycle accosted them near German Bakery on North Main Road and the pillion rider fired from a revolver. However, the bullet missed the target. Enraged by the firing, Bhosale asked his driver to chase the bike. When they reached near ABC farms, the assailants halted and fired, and a bullet hit Bhosale's driver Shakif Yusuf Sayyad (41) o the right side of his chest.

Later, a complaint was registered with Bund Garden police station by Bhosale. The Shiv Sena leader had alleged that his rival Bapu Pathare and his relative Santosh Bharne from the NCP were behind the attack. However, city police gave a clean cheat to the duo. The case was later transferred to CID. u00a0