Sajid Shadow, who has been wanted in an assault case since March and evaded cops despite standing next to then MP Priya Dutt at an April rally, was part of election campaigning for these polls as well
Sajid Sahab, Sajid Shadow, wanted man, Bandra assault case, MP Priya Dutt, election rally, election campaigning, Mumbai news, fake voter id racket
Investigations into the ‘fake’ election cards found in Bandra on polling day on Wednesday have revealed that one of the accused in the case is a criminal, who was allegedly roaming freely in the area and taking part in election campaigning despite being wanted by the police.
The accused, Sajid Sahab alias Sajid Shadow, is notorious for being part of political campaigns right under the police’s noses despite his wanted status. In March this year, a case of assault had been registered against Sajid and a few others for assaulting one Akbar Khan, who was trying to protect a 25-year-old mango tree that a builder wanted to uproot.
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An image of Sajid Sahab aka Sajid Shadow (circled) with standing next to then MP Priya Dutt and MLA Baba Siddique at a rally in April
But, in April, Sajid was seen with former MP Priya Dutt and MLA Baba Siddique in an election rally in the city. Police were present during the event, but Sajid was not arrested.
Polling case
On Wednesday, activists and an Independent candidate, Sameer Rai, from Bandra were doing the rounds of the area when they saw a huge crowd gathered at a Congress helpdesk. Further investigation revealed that ‘bogus’ voter cards were being distributed at the helpdesk and Rai called the police.
Seeing the cops, the crowd as well as those manning the helpdesk tried to flee, but the police managed to arrest Gudiya Yadav (19) and a 17-year-old boy. The police recovered over 295 allegedly fake election cards and 59 voter slips and a laptop.
Bandra cops filed cases under sections related to cheating and forgery of the IPC and canvassing for a party despite the campaigning period having ended under the Representation Of The People Act. Police sources told mid-day that Sajid was the one who procured the ‘fake’ voter id cards and slips. They are also looking for two other accused, Akhtari Bakriwala and Babu Mechanic.
“Sajid is an accused in the case, but we are verifying his involvement in the case. His name is in the FIR but we will arrest him only after proper investigations,” said a senior official from the Bandra police. Despite repeated attempts, DCP (Zone IX) Satyanarayan Chaudhary could not be reached for comment.
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