Udupi: Police Monday arrested Anuj Patil, 35, an alleged Mumbai gangster, in connection with the murder of businessman and former president of Mudarangady gram panchayat David D’Souza.Patil is a native of Nalanda, Bihar.SP Hariram Shankar said a team led by Kundapur PSI Nanja Nayak and Kollur PSI Vinay arrested Patil within Hebri police station limits between 6am and 6.30am Monday. While Patil was being taken into custody, he attacked police personnel, snatched PSI Vinay’s service weapon and opened fire. Kundapur PSI Nanja Nayak then allegedly fired at Patil’s leg in self-defence. Patil was subsequently admitted to the Udupi govt hospital at Ajjarkad in Udupi for treatment.Patil, who was allegedly operating in Mumbai, had been absconding since 2017. An MCOCA case has been registered against him in Maharashtra. He has 11 criminal cases against him, including 10 under the Arms Act. Of these, four were registered in Maharashtra, five in Gujarat, one in Daman and Diu, and one in Karnataka.Police suspect Patil arranged three shooters for D’Souza’s murder.D’Souza, owner of Prince Enterprises and a former gram panchayat president, was shot dead around 3.45pm on Aug 7 in Mudarangady. The assailants arrived on a motorcycle and the pillion rider allegedly fired at D’Souza’s head. A case was registered at Shirva police station and an investigation was launched.Anmol Rastogi and Jiyahul Wajul Sheikh alias Deepak, who were directly involved in the case, have already been arrested and produced before a court.Mohammed Irshad, Chirag Poojary, Sadananda Devadiga and Kishore Rama Poojary, who allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy with other accused to commit the crime and provided financial backing, have also been arrested and produced before a court.Raju, the first accused in the case, has been taken into custody and is being investigated in connection with an attempted murder case registered at Byndoor police station.Friday, police arrested Lokesh Teja Kothari, 42, a resident of Balihitlu in Byndoor taluk. Kothari previously worked in Mumbai, where he became acquainted with and befriended Kishore Rama Poojary. Police said he was involved in the crime by providing a motorcycle to the directly involved accused, Anmol Rastogi and Raju, and by hatching a criminal conspiracy with other accused to commit the murder.
