Shoot-out spree, 1 dead

Even as the police in mufti closed in on the duo, Sheikh opened fire while running away.

Ten rounds of fire by each were exchanged. Sheikh was seriously injured but died before he could be admitted to a hospital, said Bhosale. The police suspect that Sheikh’s accomplice, who escaped from the scene of crime could be Sadiq, a key hitman of Chota Shakee operating in Mumbai Central.

Police sub-inspector Milan Kolekar was injured and has been admitted to Nagpada police hospital. He is out of danger, said the police. The night before the Agripada police were witness to another curious encounter. A gun wielding man was beaten black and blue by a mob on a footpath on Wednesday night. He turned out to be a lung cancer victim, newly married and an inexperienced shooter for Dubai-based gangster Chhota Shakeel.

Asif Garib Khan was caught by the mob when he aimed to kill Parvez Ansari but failed to unlock his Chinese Tokarev pistol and he was unable to fire. In the melee, two of his accomplices managed to escape, one of whom was identified as Raees.

Joint commissioner of police, crime, R S Sharma, said the incident was a fallout of an old enmity between the Ansari brothers who run a travel agency and one Sadik, living in the same building and associated with Dubai-based don, Chhota Shakeel.

Earlier, Khan had failed when he made an attempt on the life of the editor of Hindustan daily. Arzoo however, has not been the only journalist who has been targetted by hitmen.

On Thursday, Baljit Parmar (45) was hit by four bullets outside his residence at Antop Hill, by two men. Ranjit Singh Sharma said Parmar sustained minor tissue injuries.

Parmar suspected that the firing was a fallout of a long-winding dispute over a hotel in Bandra, `Tamasha’, in which he had tried to intervene to solve the dispute.

The weapon used was a long-barelled .45 bore pistol. Parmar, a former reporter with The Daily and Bombay Eye, claimed to identify the two assailants.