The Vadodara Detection of Crime Branch (DCB)on Monday nabbed Aslam Shaikh alias Bodiyo, the alleged leader of the Bichoo gang whose 26 members were booked on January 20 in the first case in Vadodara under the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Act.

According to DCB officials, Shaikh was nabbed from Chhuchhapura dargah in Bodeli in Chhota Udepur district early on Monday and will be formally arrested after the mandatory Covid-19 test.

Shaikh, and his close aide, Shoaib Ali Saiyyed alias Bapu, were nabbed from a raid around 2:30am at the dargah, where he had sought asylum since his gang was booked under GCTOC and 15 of its members were arrested.

The arrest of Shaikh and Saiyyed will take the total arrests to 17 and nine others are still at large.

The DCB has also sought details of properties registered in the name of 26 gang members to ascertain those immovables that categorise as “proceeds of crime” to be attached under provisions of Section 18 of the GCTOC Act to crackdown on an “organised crime syndicate”.

Shaikh, who was earlier booked on nine occasions under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Act and is currently at large, has 62 criminal cases filed against him since 1998.

The cases against the gang members pertain to murder, attempt to murder, abduction and kidnapping, loot, extortion, cheating, fraud and land-grabbing. The gang has been booked under Section 3 of the GCTOC Act which lays down punishment for organised crime and terrorist activities with death or life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10 lakh.