Gulshan Kumar, owner of Super Cassettes India Ltd, the leading audio cassette company in India, was shot 18 times by three men while exiting from a temple at Four Bungalows, Andheri (West) on August 12, 1997. Yet the only significant development, admits Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) D Shivanandan, is the obscene amount of money the state has spent on the futile attempts to extradite one of the main conspirators, music director Nadeem Saifee Akhtar. Senior police officers from the Crime Branch also point out that another key accused, owner of Tips Cassettes and Records Company, Ramesh Taurani who allegedly paid the assailants Rs 25 lakh to execute the killing, wriggled past their grasp by securingbail from the HC.

With the media glare on the case unwavering for quite a while after the murder, police picked up Nizamuddin, their first suspect, a few days later. He was soon released for want of evidence. Six others were arrested on September 1, after which the commissioner of police stunned all of Mumbai by naming Nadeem as one of the key conspirators.

A year into the case, 12 accused are in custody, Taurani is out on bail and 13 others are absconding. The fact is, while the minions stew in custody, all the big fish are absconding. Among these are Abu Salem, lieutenant of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim; Dawood's brother Anees Ibrahim Kaskar; Kayuum Ansari, Anil Madanlal Sharma and Mohammed Rauf Dawood Mohammed. All of them are either in Dubai or Karachi and the Mumbai police know they will never see the inside of an Indian prison. Crime Branch officers say 250 policemen are still on ``round the clock duty'' though they have precious little to do other than stare at the houses of the abscondingaccused. ``Police have been watching their houses. Yet these men have managed to evade the dragnet,'' admits an assistant commissioner of police attached to the Crime Branch.

Investigating Officer, Inspector Arjun Bagdi of the Crime Branch, says the absence of extradition treaties with countries where the fugitives have sought refuge has thwarted their arrest. ``Though efforts are on to sign an extradition treaty with some of these countries, bureaucratic bottlenecks have been taking a long time,'' he points out.

Nadeem fled to London soon after the murder and is contesting the Indian government's extradition attempts in a Bow Street court in the United Kingdom. The state has spent about 1,000 pounds in lawyer's fees for each of the three appearances in court.

The police are also painfully aware that every passing day obfuscates more evidence. They are equally sore at the bail of Taurani, whose interrogation they know, would have clarified the motive behind the conspiracy, which was hatched at a partyin Dubai on June 4, 1997. These were Nadeem, Kayuum, Abu Salem, Mohammed Ali, Rafiq Phalke, Rauf Dawood Merchant and Jaffer Sharief.Police have prepared a 400-page chargesheet after questioning 160 witnesses, including 62 government officials, police officials and emigration officials. About 92 witnesses include family members of the accused, film personalities among others.

Still, they are no closer to closing the case, much less nabbing the culprits. The Mumbai police know they are, yet again, confronted by a case whose proportions extend far beyond their reach. In all probability, it will remain so.

A list of the 13 absconding accused: Nadeem Saifee Akhtar, Anees Ibrahim Kaskar, Abu Salem Ansari, Kayuum Ansari, Anil Madanlal Sharma, Mohammed Rauf Dawood Mohammed, Wasim alias Babuji Abdul Mohammed Khan, Kevin alias Kailash alias Vikas Dubey, Rashid Dawood Merchant, Fatima Dawood Merchant, Shafi Mamu, Imran Aziz Honda and Feroz.

A list of the 13 who are in in custody: Javed alias JavedKaliya Waheed Khan, Rafiq Ahmed Shafiq Ahmed Ansari, Rafiq Mohammed Ishaq Phalke, Imtiyaz Dawood Merchant, Adil Mohammed Ali Khan, Pratap Singh Sukhbir Singh, Shabbir Ali Mazhar Ali Hussain, Abdul Kavi, Mohammed Idris Shaikh, Aftab Alam Irshad, Ramesh Taurani (out on bail), Jaffer Sharief, son of Mohammed Inayatullah, and Faiyaz Ahmed Chowgule.