Junagadh BJP councillor, brother booked under anti-terror law

Rajkot: A sitting councillor of the Junagadh Municipal Corporation (JuMC), his brother, and two others were arrested on Wednesday under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Act (GujCTOC) for their alleged involvement in a series of serious offences, including cyberfraud, in Junagadh.The complaint was lodged at the Junagadh City A Division Police Station by Inspector Krunal Patel of the Local Crime Branch (LCB) against Ward No. 3 councillor Abbas Ibrahim alias Gambler Qureshi, his brother Aslam alias Lalo Ibrahim alias Gambler Qureshi, Shahbaz alias Shahebaz Qureshi, and Kareem Sida. It has also been revealed that Aslam is a former BJP councillor.
Junagadh Superintendent of Police Subodh Odedra told TOI that the accused are members of the ‘Gambler Gang', which has multiple criminal cases registered against them. "The investigation has been assigned to DySP Ravirajsinh Parmar of Junagadh Rural," he added.Police will also examine whether the accused committed criminal acts to illegally acquire property, and any such assets will be scrutinized during the investigation.The probe revealed that the accused have been involved in serious criminal activities in Junagadh city over the past 10 years. These include attempted murder, extortion, forcible confinement, possession of arms, causing injury, damage to private property, attacks on police personnel, death threats, and cyberfraud.According to the complaint, Aslam has been running the gang for several years. The accused allegedly used the bank accounts of various individuals—either by renting them or receiving commissions—to divert victims' funds through online banking to multiple accounts, convert cash in different ways, and even transfer amounts into cryptocurrencies, thereby facilitating cyberfraud.Records show that over the past decade, at least five cases have been registered against Aslam across various police stations in Junagadh city, including rioting, assault, attempted murder, Arms Act violations, death threats, and cyberfraud.Abbas has been booked under about 12 cases, including rioting, extortion, death threats, assault, criminal conspiracy, Arms Act violations, attempted murder, and atrocity-related charges. Shahbaz faces around five cases, including assault, rioting, attempted murder, Arms Act violations, extortion, IT Act violations, forcible confinement, and cyberfraud, while Kareem Sida has been implicated in at least seven serious cases.