The police had arrested three Chotta Shakeel gang members in a night-long operation on Thursday. The three, Moin Waziruddin Qureshi, Mehmood Shaik Dawood Lal and Afsar Abdul Hussain Atapalli had been arrested and remanded to police custody. Initial investigations revealed that they had come to the city to kidnap a prominent businessman from Timber Market. Further investigations have revealed that they had also targeted other businessmen and some local political leaders. According to the police the trio had arrived with an agenda to eliminate some of these leaders.

Meanwhile the police are also probing into possible connections of the trio with the suspected ISI agent who had been arrested in June. According to a senior police official nothing could be ruled out and all possible angles were being looked into.

According to the police the arrest of these three Chhota Shakeel operatives in Pune is an indication that the underworld in Mumbai is on the run.

Increased police pressure had forced these elements to seek newer pastures outside Mumbai.

On Thursday, the police had recovered a 9 mm pistol and .38 calibre revolver from the trio. They had also confiscated a white Premier Padmini in which the gang was travelling. Investigations have revealed that the registration number of the car was registered in Thane, Mumbai but the registration number is false. The police are trying to establish the identity of the owner of the car.