MUMBAI, October 5: Additional chief metropolitan magistrate V V Belsare today remanded the owner of Tips Music company, Ramesh Taurani, to police custody till October 17. Public Prosecutor K C Goswami contended that as Taurani was one of the suspected key conspirators in the Gulshan Kumar murder case, a sustained interrogation was necessary to bring the case to its logical end.

And a logical culmination is what the police are seeking. In a sensational case involving some of Bollywood's top-most names, the interrogation of virtually most of the leading stars in Bollywood and a key suspect, Nadeem, still at large, the Gulshan Kumar case investigation appears to be floundering in hype.

But now with Taurani's arrest, the police claim to have found a vital link. The breakthrough came after Taurani's driver Selvaraj turned police approver. Selvaraj's statements were recorded in detail at the 47th Esplanade Court on October 4. Based on the statements, the crime branch picked up Taurani the next day. The police affidavit says the plot was hatched on June 27 when Taurani carried Rs 25 lakh in two boxes in his Tata Estate bearing number MH04 Q 5120 from his office on New Link Road at Andheri to Juhu. The driver was asked to take care of the cash while the accused went into Sunny Super Sound Studio near the Hare Rama Temple at Juhu. Five minutes later, Taurani emerged with Nadeem and they proceeded to a nearby ice-cream parlour, Natural Ice Cream Centre, where the cash boxes were handed over to the music director as per telephonic instructions by Abu Salem at Dubai, the affidavit continues.The amount, claim the police, was subsequently handed over to some Bhendi Bazar laundry owners Abdul Kavi Mohammed Idris, Mohammed Abdul Kavi and Abdul - who were handling Abu Salem's hawala transactions from Mumbai. Taurani's lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, tried to seek bail on medical grounds and argued that Taurani was being falsely implicated by Gulshan Kumar's family members so that they could gain an upper hand in the business.

Taurani's arrest has given an impetus to the Mumbai police's case for bringing back Nadeem to India. Joint commissioner (crime) Ranjit Singh Sharma said if necessary, a senior officer will be sent to the UK to expedite the matter. It is also being speculated that Taurani is one of the ``three big'' names revealed by Sena chief Bal Thackeray. More heads are expected to roll in the light of Thackeray's statement.

Inconsistencies or red herrings?

Since the beginning of investigations in the Gulshan Kumar murder, there have been several glaring inconsistencies in the police arguments.

* The date when the plot to kill Gulshan Kumar was hatched: The first police press release stated that the plot to kill Nadeem was hatched in May 1997. Then began the star parade and it was said that they are being questioned about a bash held on June 12 1997 where the plot was hatched. Now the remand application for Taurani states that the conspiracy to kill Gulshan was hatched in January 1997.

* Funding for Gulshan Kumar's killing: In a press conference when Nadeem was named as the prime suspect, the police commissioner, Ronnie Mendonca has told mediapersons that Nadeem has paid a Supari of Rs 35 lakhs to the six accused who were arrested by the police. The next day, the joint commissioner of police, R S Sharma told this paper that the money was raised by kidnapping a businessman's son-in-law. The kidnapping was organised by Abu Salem at the behest of this businessman's partner to whom Rs 1 crore was owed. However he could cough up a ransom of only Rs 35 lakhs which Sharma claimed was used for the killing. The third tip-off was that Nadeem had pumped in money through hawala channel. Finally in Taurani's remand application it was said Taurani gave Rs 25 lakhs to three accused for the killing.

* Motive: The first thing the police said was that Nadeem was the accused who got Gulshan Kumar killed because Gulshan was systematically destroying his career. Now after keeping Selvaraj in custody for days and forcing him to turn an approver, the police claim that Taurani felt that Gulshan was ruining the market for other music companies by flooding the market with cheap cassettes. Hence he asked Nadeem to get in touch with Abu Salem and finish off Gulshan at the earliest.

* Main accused: That finally begs the question as to who is the prime accused. Nadeem or Taurani? The police say that it was Taurani who paid Nadeem to get the job done. If that is the case then who are the three big fish that Thackeray alluded to?

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.