New Delhi, Dec 7 (IANS): A former councillor in Uttar Pradesh, who disguised himself as an astrologer to avoid arrest in a murder case, was finally held in the capital along with an associate, police said Saturday.

Nazakat Ali, 30, an ex-councillor of Meerut, and Mehraj, 32, were arrested in Sarita Vihar area in south Delhi Friday when they were heading towards Faridabad in Haryana.

"Ali is wanted by Uttar Pradesh Police for killing an associate Bilal Nov 28. He along with his other associates, Mehraj, Barkat, Khilafat, Hanif, Hasin, Nadim, Azad, Wasim and Shaffaqat, had planned to kill Bilal," said Deputy Commissioner of Police P. Karunakaran.

After murdering Bilal, Ali was living with Mehraj at Vasundhara area in Ghaziabad posing as an astrologer to conceal his identity, said Karunakaran.

In 2008, Ali was elected councillor of Ward No.69 in Meerut on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket. He has also worked with two Hindi news channels as bureau chief in western Uttar Pradesh.

"During that time, he met Bilal and they started cheating people posing as astrologers. Some dispute occurred between them over sharing of money. After that, Ali planned to kill Bilal," the police officer said.

Ali is also wanted in eight other cases.