Jharkhand Hideout Busted: Delhi Crime Branch Arrests Life Convict in Godda

Godda/New Delhi (IANS): The Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested two fugitive brothers sentenced to life imprisonment for a 1996 murder. Investigators traced one of the convicts, 51-year-old Shah Nawaz Ali, to Godda district in Jharkhand, where he had been evading the law under a completely fabricated identity.

Another team of police arrested his elder brother, Firasat Ali (56), in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. Firasat is also wanted for a 2006 contract killing and body dismemberment case in Mumbai.

Both brothers, whose family traditionally trades in old clothes across India, are now in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.

Coordinated Raids Shatter the Jharkhand Cover-Up

The Delhi Police Anti-Robbery and Snatching Cell (ARSC), spearheaded by Inspector Robin Tyagi and supervised by ACP Sanjay Kumar Nagpal, launched the operation after Head Constable Mintu received precise intelligence.

The tip-off revealed that Shah Nawaz Ali was hiding out in Jharkhand. The Crime Branch deployed two separate raiding teams on July 4 to strike simultaneously, ensuring neither suspect could tip off the other. The strategy worked flawlessly, capturing Shah Nawaz from his hideout in Godda.

During initial questioning, Shah Nawaz confessed that he spent his decade on the run hopping across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand, using his old-clothes trading business as a front to blend into new neighbourhoods.

From a Saree Dispute to Cold-Blooded Murder

The case dates back to September 27, 1996, inside an old clothes market in Raghubir Nagar, Delhi. A petty argument over purchasing an old saree escalated rapidly. Shah Nawaz initially threatened a local trader, only to return later with his brothers Firasat Ali, Arshad Ali, and an associate.

Armed with knives, the gang forced their way into the trader’s home. Shah Nawaz and Firasat repeatedly stabbed a family member, Ishtiaq Ahmed (alias Pappu), in the neck and chest, killing him on the spot, while injuring two others.

A Sessions Court handed both brothers life sentences in May 2000. While out on bail pending a High Court appeal, the Delhi High Court upheld their conviction in 2016 and ordered them to surrender. Instead, Shah Nawaz fled to Jharkhand, beginning his ten-year stint as a proclaimed offender.

The Shocking Mumbai Connection

While Shah Nawaz lay low in Godda, his brother Firasat Ali engaged in even more heinous crimes. In 2006, Mumbai Police found a severed human torso wrapped in plastic near Bhendi Bazaar.

Twelve years later, in 2018, investigators identified the torso as Kisan Kharva and discovered that his wife, Bansiben Kharva, had paid Firasat Ali and an associate ₹2 lakh to execute her husband. Firasat allegedly murdered Kharva, decapitated him, and scattered his limbs across Mumbai to hide the identity.

Firasat secured bail from the Bombay High Court in 2021 and promptly jumped bail to go into hiding. While Delhi authorities have processed both brothers into Tihar Jail, Delhi Police have officially alerted the Mumbai Police regarding Firasat’s capture.