Police returned the fire, and assistant commissioner of police Satish Gaikwad's Maruti Gypsy and senior inspector M N Sanap's jeep were damaged in the crossfire, police said.

The wounded gangsters were rushed to Bhagwati Hospital, where they were declared dead before admission.

Investigations have revealed that Ashok and Dabba were members of the Nadar gang active in the western suburbs, especially the Goregaon area. They were named in at least 15 serious offences, including bank robberies and murders. Both had been evading arrest for the last few years.

Top Shakeel man held

In a major breakthrough, the Unit-VIII of the crime branch arrested Arif Jabar alias Arif Kalia, one of the top ten criminals wanted by Mumbai police, from Gonda in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

Kalia belongs tothe Chhota Shakeel gang and was wanted in three murder cases. He also has many extortion cases against him.

Kalia was picked from a masjid in Gonda, where he had gone with fifteen other Muslims of the Tablighi-Jamaat from Mumbra.

After the crime branch named the top ten fugitives in June this year, Kalia joined the band of the Muslim preachers to escape the police dragnet.

He is the prime accused in the murder of former customs officer Farooq Batatawala, Haji Mukhtar, Mohammed Mansuri, Salim Badgujar, Parvez Gama and Bharat Mhatre.

Orders for Gawli aide's detention

Police commissioner R H Mendonca today issued orders for the detention of Arun Gawli's lieutenant, Avinash alias Avi Paradkar, under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities Act (MPDA). Paradkar, a key accused in several murder cases, has been sent to Amravati Central prison. He had spread terror in Goregaon, making extortion demands, threatening traders, and resorting to intimidation.