Murder of Afghan religious leader: four held

Four persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of Afghan national and Sufi preacher Khwaja Sayyad Zarif Chishti alias Zarif Baba (28) in Maharashtra's Nashik district, police said on Thursday evening.

Chishti was shot dead by some people in Chinchodi Khurd MIDC area near Yeola in the district on July 5.

Nashik rural police superintendent Sachin Patil said that Ganesh alias Deva Babasaheb Zinjad alias Patil (28), Ravindra Changdev Tore (25) and Pawan Popat Aher (26) were arrested in the case on suspicion.

The trio confessed that they called Chishti to Chichodi MIDC area for performing `Bhoomipujan' (ground breaking ceremony) of a plot of land, and shot him dead, the SP said.

Following their questioning, police arrested Gafar Ahmed Khan, another accused, he said.

Ravindra Tore was Chishti's driver, he added.

The accused wanted to usurp the land which Chishti had purchased in the name of Gafar Khan who was his follower, the police official said.

Chishti, an Afghan national, was living in India for the last four years as a refugee. He was a Sufi preacher and had a large following on YouTube. Being a refugee, he could not purchase properties in India, so he used to make such transactions in the name of his followers, police had said earlier.