Absconding Chhota Shakeel sharpshooter found in jail itself: Police were on the lookout for 20 years

Mumbai Police was looking for Ashraf Siddiqui, the absconding sharpshooter of underworld don Chhota Shakeel for 20 years. The police have now found him locked in jail. He was in jail in some other case. Siddiqui had killed Wahid Ali Khan, president of the Bombay Aman Committee, in July 1999 and fled the scene.
According to media reports, the police arrested the accused in this case in 2019. Recently, on 3 February 2023, the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) Special Judge acquitted the accused citing flaws in the case. The judge said it was an unsolved mystery that the police knew better
The judge also expressed anger at the police after it was revealed that the police were on the lookout for absconding accused in a 1999 murder case. Whereas he was jailed from 2014 to 2019 in some other cases and was arrested by CID.
The judge said that the testimony of the informer is surrounded by many doubts and does not corroborate with other witnesses. It also said that the police had failed to prove the recovery of the pistol from which Khan was shot. No vehicle information has also come to the fore from which the accused is said to have fled.
The court said in this whole matter that when he was in jail, how did the police fail to trace him? While the police keep records of absconding accused and under-trial prisoners.
In May 2019, the police traced Siddiqui and arrested him. Evidence was found against him. Thereafter, a charge sheet was filed against him. During the investigation, the police found evidence linking six people, including Siddiqui and Chhota Shakeel, to the case.