Shahezada Khan and Mohammed Munaf alias Munaaf Bata were arrested by the city police on Wednesday evening from a city hotel.

Senior police officials, who have been in touch with the Mumbai police and the ATS since yesterday, told Express Newsline that since Khan and Munaf had not committed any crime within the city limits, they would not be able to keep them in custody for more than 24 hours.

Another official, however, said that the two could be arrested again under preventive custody norms until a transfer warrant was secured from either Ahmedabad or Mumbai.

Detection of Crime Branch PI C M Mudaliar, who arrested Khan and Munaf and in whose custody they are at present, said, ``Interrogations have proven beyond doubt that they came here on the behest of a builder, who wanted plots vacated in the Rander and Varachha areas of the city.''

Refusing to name the builder or the arrested' plan of action, Mudaliar said some facts disclosed by the two were yet to be verified. However, he admitted that this was not the duo's first visit to the city.

The Dilip Marathe gang and Farooq Munshi, who recently escaped from police custody, were also part of the builder-criminal nexus, Mudaliar said, adding, ``The high prices of real estate in this city is the reason why Shahezada was called to this city.''

Police department officials claimed that though Khan was known to accept suparis for murder, they were waiting to learn from the Mumbai police if he was wanted in any case there.

Khan, who owns a house in the Rander area of Surat, is a brother of notorious gangster Alamzeb, who was gunned down by the city police in 1984 in an encounter. Their father Zangrez Khan was known to be a close associate of Mumbai ganglord Karim Lala. But apart from complaints of extortion at Sarkhej in Ahmedabad and stock-piling of arms, very little is known about Munaaf Bata.

The police were expected to produce both men before a magistrate later in the evening and arrest them under Section 151 of the CrPC.