Shahid Azmi’s killers took tip from 26/11, used Voice over Internet Protocol

Investigations in the murder of criminal lawyer Shahid Azmi have revealed that the killers had used communication techniques similar to the ones used by terrorists during the 26/11 terror attacks and the 11/7 train blasts.

According to crime branch sources, gangster Bharat Nepali, who had hired men to eliminate Azmi, had used Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system to communicate with the killers.

Investigations have revealed that at least six calls were made, before and after Azmi’s murder, using VoIP service from Hong Kong, Los Angeles, London and Israel. The usage of VoIP for criminal activity had first come to light during the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. Pakistani handlers of the terrorists, who attacked the city on the night of November 26, 2008, were found to be using VoIP service to communicate with the ten men who laid siege at various locations in the city.

Another communication technique used by Azmi’s killers was the draft email system, which was used by terrorists in the 11/7 train blasts that rocked the city in 2006.  “A person from Bangkok had attached photographs of Azmi in a mail and saved it as a draft in an email account. The killers, Devendra Jagtap and Hasmukh Solanki, who knew the password of the email account opened the draft mail and received identified Azmi,” said a crime branch official.

Azmi’s killing on February 11, this year, had shocked the city’s legal fraternity as three men had barged into his Kurla office and shot him before fleeing from the scene.  Azmi was defence lawyer in the 26/11 trial for Faheem Ansari, who was recently acquitted by the court due to lack of evidence. Preliminary investigations had revealed that it was a contract killing carried out for Rs1 lakh at the behest of Nepali, a former aide of Chhota Rajan.

Later, crime branch officials arrested Devendra Jagtap, Pintu Dagle and Vinod Vichare from Mulund, while the fourth accused, Hasmukh Solanki, was nabbed on March 9. The police had also seized four weapons, which were used in the killing, three rounds of live cartridges and five mobile phones from the group. Of the ten accused, six, including Nepali, his close aide Vijay Shetty, Santosh Shetty, Rajiv Tiwari and two others are absconding.

Public Prosecutor Kalpana Chavan said: “Nepali had given contract to kill Azmi as he believed that the lawyer was defending those who according to him are anti-nationals. The shooting was part of Nepali’s efforts to establish his supremacy in the underworld.”