Hans News Service Mangaluru

Mangalurupolice have cracked down on a cross-border conspiracy by arresting seven key players in the sensational murder of local rowdy sheeter Arif.

According to City Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy, the arrested include Rifath, Juttu Ashfaq, Khalil, Shakir, Irfan, and Rizwan, who took part directly in the killing, along with Irshad who sheltered the accused and aided their activities.

The investigation has exposed that the entire operation was coordinated on an international scale. Two suspects, Mustafa and Ashwir, currently staying overseas, provided monetary support to help the culprits evade capture.

Another individual named Arshad not only supplied arms for the attack but also kept feeding the group details on police activities. Suhail arranged the rented car deployed during the crime and escaped to Saudi Arabia right after the assault.

Officials suspect a much wider syndicate was involved in the conspiracy. Teams have spread a wide net to locate the other absconding accused, and the police commissioner assured that further arrests are expected shortly.

On the morning of March 27, Arif was heading to the Boloor fish market on his motorcycle when six of the accused tailed him in a car. They intentionally collided with his bike at the Tokkottu flyover area.

The moment Arif was thrown off, the attackers unleashed a ferocious assault using lethal weapons and escaped immediately. Old rivalry has emerged as the root cause of this meticulously planned execution.

To dodge police surveillance, the group relied on sophisticated technical methods. Ashwir from Dubai facilitated this by securing OTPs and enabling international WhatsApp numbers for the team. The accused maintained contact by constantly changing numbers, discarding one before investigators could trace it and shifting to another.