Mangalore :Rashid Malbari, an aide of Dubai-based underworld don Chhota Shakeel, has jumped bail after he was released from the Bangalore Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara on July 21. He reportedly failed to appear at the police station and in court twice after July 21.
Malbari was arrested by the Mangalore Crime Branch police in 2009, when he had come to allegedly eliminate a few prominent leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Sri Rama Sene, including Varun Gandhi and Pramod Muthalik.
Malbari was released after he was granted conditional bail by a Bangalore city court on July 21. He was slapped with charges of murder and illegal possession of fire arms under the Arms Act in a crime that took place at KG Halli, Bangalore. He was also granted bail by the JMFC court, Mangalore
Malbari, who has at least nine criminal cases in Mangalore and one in Bangalore against him, was shifted from Mangalore prison to Bellary and later to Bangalore Central Prison for security reasons. He slipped out of the police radar despite the State police mounting surveillance on his movement.
Sources have confirmed the incident and said efforts were on to trace him. It is learnt that as of now, the police were not aware of his whereabouts.
The arrest in 2009:
Rashid and his associate Mohammed Hasin were arrested in Kasargod in 2009 after the police received an accurate tip off regarding his whereabouts. He was charged with hatching a plan to eliminate BJP leader Varun Gandhi and Sri Rama Sene leader Pramod Muthalik and being in possession of arms.
Malbari was convicted for possession of arms under the Arms Act by a City Sessions Court and his sentence was set-off to the term he had served in prison as an undertrial on August 30, 2013, while the other charges could not be proved. He continued to be held in jail in connection with four other cases in which he has been charged with murder, rioting and issuing threats to some persons and obstructing police officers on duty. There are cases against him in Mumbai also, it is said.
Naushad Kashimji, an advocate here and a native of Bhatkal, who appeared on behalf of Malbari, was shod dead by unknown assailants at Falnir in Mangalore on April 9, 2009. This case is before a City Sessions Court.
On August 30, 2013, City Crime Branch (CCB) inspector Venkatesh Prasanna lodged a complaint in Bunder police station alleging that Malbari had threatened to kill him while emerging from court following his conviction.
Malbari, who hails from Kaup in Udupi district, had settled down in Mumbai where he reportedly came in contact with the underworld and rose in the ranks there to emerge as a henchman of Chhota Shakeel.
He was first reported an offender in Mangalore in 1998 when he was charged with the murder of two persons in Pandeshwar, following gang rivalry. He could not be arrested in that case, though the police had launched a manhunt. Thereafter, Malbari moved to Singapore and Bangkok where too, the police believe, he was involved in criminal activities. Some police officials say that he was assigned the task of eliminating people to extend the hold of the Chhota Shakeel gang, even while he was in custody.
