The prime accused in the Gulshan Colony shootout on September 11, Mohammad Firoz alias Mini Firoz, was apprehended by police in Delhi after a 10-day manhunt. Police consider it a significant breakthrough in the case, which involved an alleged five-hour-long rampage of violence, bombings, and arson.

“Mini Feroz has been absconding for 10 days since the incident. He was traced and arrested from Delhi,” a police official said. Firoz was arrested from near Ajmeri Gate in Delhi.

He is the fifth person to be arrested in the case, after Mohammad Amber alias Mohammad Nafis, Md Sajid, Ahmed Hossain alias Md Madhu, and Raja Khan.

Police claimed Firoz and “his gang” were seen on CCTV footage “vandalising bikes, assaulting shop owners, and hurling crude country-made bombs” in the colony in Kolkata. The violence, which allegedly stemmed from a rivalry between two local syndicates, “aimed to establish Firoz’s dominance in the area” and caused widespread panic among residents.

Firoz has been booked under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including sections 109/3 (attempt to murder), 324 (2) (mischief), and 351 (3) (criminal intimidation). He also faces charges under sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act and section 9 of the West Bengal Maintenance of Public Order Act.

Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma had recently been questioned about the police’s “failure” to swiftly arrest Firoz and one Amjad, the main accused in the murder of a resident in Ekbalpore. Verma had promised that both suspects would be arrested soon.