Sam Abdulrahim shows off his remarkable recovery from Fawkner shooting
Just nine weeks after being riddled with bullets, gangland survivor Sam Abdulrahim says he’s ready to step back into the boxing ring.
Police & Courts
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Gangland hit survivor Sam Abdulrahim is eyeing a return to the fight game just nine weeks after being riddled with bullets.
Kickboxer Abdulrahim — who fights under the name “The Punisher” — has made a remarkable recovery after being hit eight times and is back in training.
He this week posted on his Instagram account a photograph taken in the gym.
A message underneath read: “I’m back and ready. Fight news to be announced soon. Stay tuned.”
The 36-year-old was shot eight times as he sat in his Mercedes-Benz G-class at his cousin’s funeral.
Abdulrahim’s announcement came in a week of significant developments in the investigation into the bungled contract killing.
On Monday, six people were arrested and 18-year-old Yasir Al Qassim of Epping was charged with attempted murder in connection with the June 25 ambush at Fawkner Cemetery.
In a brief court hearing on Friday, Mr Al Qassim was beamed into the court via video link from Melbourne Assessment Prison but did not say anything throughout the administrative hearing.
Mr Al Qassim was expected to make a bid for bail ahead of the weekend, but his lawyer Stojne Slaveski withdrew the application.
No reason was given for the change of heart, but she said they would make an application at a later date.
The court heard DNA evidence and phone intercepts will form part of the evidence, with investigators granted 15 weeks — more than double the usual six weeks allocated — to prepare the brief of evidence in Mr Al Qassim’s case.
On Thursday, Mr Al Qassim’s mother became the seventh person arrested over the shooting, with the 57-year-old Epping woman interviewed by police for allegedly perverting the course of justice by assisting an offender.
She was released pending further inquires.
Inspector Mark Hatt of the armed crime squad revealed another two suspects had flown out of Melbourne within 48 hours of the shooting.
They headed to Dubai on false passports, no doubt aware the blundered attempt on Abdulrahim had left them badly exposed to investigators.
Insp. Hatt this week said police knew who and where they were, vowing to bring them home.
But those linked to the shooting would not just be looking over their shoulders for police.
The risk posed by their attack on Abdulrahim – a prominent Middle-Eastern organised crime figure – would also not have been lost on them.
The Herald Sun has been told the former Mongol bikie and his well-connected associates know their identities.
There are at least eight suspects in the matter and police said this week their inquiries were continuing.
The actual shootings were the climax of a hit plot that had been in motion for at least 10 days.
Others potentially implicated are those who stole cars to be used on the day and whoever provided the guns used against Abdulrahim.
Police have also examined the purchase of jerry cans at a Bunnings store on June 15.
Investigators suspect they were intended to carry petrol which would be used to incinerate the Mazda SUV getaway car of the shooters.
But they panicked and crashed into a fire hydrant and pole on Box Forest Rd.
That meant they would not carry out any plan to torch the Mazda and destroy forensic clues such as fingerprints and DNA.
A Ford Territory carjacked by one of the shooters in the immediate aftermath was later found at Epping.
An 18-year-old Lalor man, 20-year-old Meadow Heights woman, 24-year-old Meadow Heights man, 20-year-old Docklands man and a 19-year-old Greenvale man were the others arrested over the bungled hit. All were released pending further inquires.
Abdulrahim was shot in the chest multiple times after his Mercedes Benz four-wheel-drive was peppered with bullets as he left the funeral on Box Forest Rd.
He was taken to hospital in critical condition after managing to drive himself to Fawkner police station following the targeted attack. Abdulrahim has been a key player in Melbourne’s Middle-Eastern organised crime scene for years and is known to have some dangerous enemies.
The 30-year old bikie had left the Mongols Outlaw Motorcycle Gang in April, travelling to Queensland to hand his patch in to new national president Nick “The Knife” Forbes.
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