A stolen Prado was found torched in Churchill Park Drive, Endeavour Hills, hours later, which police believe is linked to the fatal shooting.
In September last year, police announced a $1 million reward for information on the fatal shooting. On Tuesday, they said the reward remained on offer, and their investigation was ongoing.
Prosecutors at Kheyali’s Melbourne Magistrates’ Court appearance on April 4 described the 23-year-old’s case as a “complex, ongoing organised crime investigation”, and requested eight more weeks than usual to gather evidence, including CCTV and telecommunications data.
Kheyali is next due in court on August 8.
Police believe Keshtiar’s death was a targeted attack and previously voiced fears it could prompt an escalation in violence among Melbourne’s underworld gangs.
Keshtiar was born in Afghanistan and spent most of his youth there before moving to Pakistan for several years.
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He migrated to Australia as a 19-year-old and became a hard worker, from a respectable and law-abiding family, holding various jobs in the security industry for about a decade. In Melbourne, he first came to the attention of police in May 2000 over an incident at the Dome nightclub in Prahran.
Keshtiar punched a nightclub employee in the face after some jostling broke out near the club’s back door. He and a friend left the Dome, but walked around to the front, where Keshtiar pulled a handgun from his pocket and pointed it at the face of another employee, before shooting him in the thigh.
Keshtiar served time in prison for the attempted murder of a man and a woman he shot while on bail in 2003. The underworld figure was recruited to the Mongols, one of Melbourne’s most powerful bikie gangs, while in prison.
Keshtiar survived a murder attempt almost a decade ago, which resulted in a death that was a case of mistaken identity.
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