Gangster gunned down in Telangana

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, August 8

Maoist-turned-gangster Mohammed Nayeemuddin, involved in over 100 criminal cases, was shot dead by the Telangana Police in an encounter near Hyderabad today.

A team from “Greyhounds”, an elite anti-extremist force of the Telangana Police, surrounded a house in Shadnagar, about 60 km from the city, where Nayeemuddin and his accomplices were holed up.

As a precautionary measure, the police evacuated the surrounding houses before starting the operation. Nayeem and his accomplices opened fire at the police, which returned the fire. After a gunfight that lasted around 10 minutes, the police entered the hideout and found Nayeemuddin alias Nayeem (40) in a pool of blood. His followers fled the spot.

Nayeem belonged to Bhongir town in the neighbouring Nalgonda district and had joined the naxalite movement in the early 1980s. He worked for the banned outfit People’s War Group (PWG). He was accused in the killing of senior IPS officer KS Vyas in January 1993. He was arrested for the murder but got bail and later turned a gangster.

In the later years, Nayeem turned his guns against his former comrades by unleashing terror against civil liberties activists and took to extortion as a profession. He was involved in several cases, including the murder of surrendered Maoist Sambasivudu, his brother Ramulu, another ex-Maoist P Goverdhan Reddy, civil liberties leader Purushottam and lady balladeer Belli Lalitha. He and his gang were involved in land settlements, real estate dealings, illegal arms supply and extortions.

Nayeem’s name also figured in the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Shaikh. His role in the fake encounter came under the scanner after the Gujarat CID sleuths found that a third person, who had travelled with Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi from Hyderabad to Ahmedabad, was Nayeem. Sohrabuddin and his wife were invited to Hyderabad by Nayeem and his sister for Eid. Nayeem was believed to have booked tickets for the couple to return to Gujarat by a private bus but they reportedly tipped off the police, which caught the couple mid-way and later killed them.