NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) Thane district president Najeeb Mulla held a press conference on Wednesday, refuting allegations made by Khushnuma Shaikh, the wife of slain MNS leader Jamil Shaikh. Khushnuma had recently accused Mulla of hiring a contract killer in the 2020 murder of her husband. In a press conference held on Tuesday, she presented a video in which Osama Shaikh one of the key accused allegedly names Mulla as being involved.
Denying the accusations, Mulla claimed he is being targeted in a “false and dirty political conspiracy” due to his growing influence within the Muslim community.
“Some people are conspiring to defame me in society,” Mulla said. He alleged that Osama mentioned his name with the intention of extorting money. Mulla also showed a video in his defense, stating it proved his innocence. He claimed that two videos of Osama have been submitted to the police.
“If anyone tries to defame me again, I will file a defamation suit,” Mulla warned, adding that a toxic political atmosphere was being created in Thane “because of just one person.”
The 2020 Murder Case
Jamil Shaikh, 49, an MNS leader from Thane and a prominent party worker, was shot dead in broad daylight by two motorcycle-borne assailants in Rabodi in November 2020.
Initially unidentified due to their helmets, the shooters were later identified through CCTV footage and technical surveillance as Irfan ‘Sonu’ Shaikh and Shahid Shaikh, both of whom were arrested earlier.
Investigations revealed that the killing was a contract hit executed by Osama Shaikh.
After nearly two years on the run, Osama Shaikh was detained by the Thane Crime Branch from Bhopa village in Muzaffarpur district, Uttar Pradesh.
According to police sources, Osama had been hiding in various cities—including Jaipur, Kashmir, Lucknow, Delhi, and Muzaffarpur—before being tracked down. He had been living in a mosque in the area for several months.
