From armed robberies to a prison fight, Aqeel Khan alias Naitra, a 29-year-old “serial offender” who allegedly stalked and sexually harassed two Australian women’s cricket team players in Indore, has at least 10 criminal cases registered against him in Madhya Pradesh, The Indian Express has learnt.
A resident of Doltabag in Indore’s Khajrana area and belonging to a family of labourers, Khan worked as a painter. He is currently in judicial custody following his arrest.
His first brush with crime was in 2012, when he was accused of breaking into a home in Indore’s Malharganj and stealing a gas cylinder. The case was disposed of in a Lok Adalat, court records show.
In 2013, Khan was booked in Sanyogitaganj in a robbery case. Two years later, in the Aerodrome area in Indore, he was accused of stealing a mobile phone from a vehicle. He was acquitted in this case by a trial court in Indore.
In 2017, Khan was serving a three-year jail sentence after being convicted under Section 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) of the Indian Penal Code. While serving his sentence in Ujjain prison, Khan got into a fight with inmates in the prison kitchen over a personal enmity, an FIR said.
“Convicted prisoner Amit injured the right palm of prisoner Aqueel with a sharp object,” the FIR stated. After freeing him, the other inmates allegedly caught hold of Amit and “injured on his cheek with the same sharp iron blade.”
The jail superintendent noted: “The accused prisoners got injured due to the fight. After that they threatened to kill each other. The behaviour of the above four prisoners is abnormal and aggressive.” This case is currently at the prosecution evidence stage, with the next hearing to be held on October 30, 2025.
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In 2018, Khan was booked in Khajrana in an Excise Act case. Police later filed a final report in the matter.
Khan came under the police radar again in 2022 when he was booked in a drug case after a police officer caught him smoking marijuana. A court later let him off with a fine.
In 2023, Khan was involved in a property dispute after which the police in Indore’s Lasudiya booked him for attempted murder. This case is at the prosecution evidence stage, with the last hearing held on October 7 this year.
Khan’s most recent alleged offences involved a spree of violent robberies in Indore in 2024. In all three, the accused allegedly used a knife to threaten victims.
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According to the FIR, in one case, the victim was stabbed in the “left arm, left thigh, and head” while his friend screamed for help. The accused reportedly stole a motorcycle and a mobile phone. Trial is yet to begin in these cases.
The players were staying at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Indore. According to police, the incident occurred on Khajrana Road Thursday morning. The two cricketers stepped out of their hotel and were walking towards a café when Khan allegedly followed them on his motorcycle, touched one of them inappropriately, and rode off, police said.
Police said the team’s security manager, Danny Simmons, lodged a complaint after receiving a distress alert from one of the players.