Mumbai, Sep 9 (PTI) An alleged member of the Zulfikar Behlim gang died at a government hospital in Maharashtra’s Amravati after he fell ill inside the city’s central jail on Wednesday, official sources said.
Adil Nadeem Qureshi (36) was among the 17 individuals, including purported kingpin Zulfikar Behlim, arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch for allegedly trying to extort Rs 25 lakh from a local contractor.
Following their arrest, the accused were lodged in various prisons across Maharashtra, with Qureshi being transferred to the Amravati Central Jail.
According to prison authorities, Qureshi suddenly fell ill in the morning after having tea and biscuits. He then began bleeding from the mouth.
The jail staff rushed him to a nearby government hospital.
However, his condition deteriorated rapidly, and he died during treatment, an official said.
The jail authorities informed Qureshi’s family in Mumbai, he said.
As news of his death reached his neighbourhood in Mumbai’s Santacruz (West) area, hundreds of local residents gathered near a. Meanwhile, his family members and close relatives left for Amravati to claim his body.
The Crime Branch had earlier arrested 17 members of the alleged Behlim gang, or “Z” gang, including gangster Zulfikar Yasin Behlim and his brother Mohsin Yasin Behlim, for allegedly demanding Rs 25 lakh from a Mumbai-based builder and threatening to kill him at gunpoint in July this year.
Following the arrests, several other suspects allegedly linked to the gang came under the scanner of the Crime Branch, the official said.
The police said gang leader Zulfikar Behlim had previously been arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and was out on bail when he allegedly committed the present offence along with his brother and other associates.
The police have invoked the stringent MCOCA against all members of the alleged “Z” gang for allegedly running an organised extortion racket in the western suburbs of the city. PTI ZA NR
