Residents of the Wazir Baba Chawl in Chembur were jolted awake by the sound of gunshots in the early hours of Thursday, after a history-sheeter allegedly tried to shoot dead a local tailor. The Tilak Nagar police have arrested three accused and one more is wanted.
According to the police, the incident occurred around 4 a.m. on Thursday when Sadiq Khan was sleeping in his residence. The main accused, Navneet Singh Rana, knocked on his door to wake him up. As soon as Mr. Khan opened the door, Mr. Rana shot at him twice with a country-made gun.
The first round hit Mr. Khan on the hand and the second lodged itself in his back when he tried to run back into his house.
“The sound woke up other residents, who rushed out to check. Mr. Rana threatened to shoot them as well, and fled the scene along with three others who were with him at the time. Mr. Khan, meanwhile, was rushed to Sion Hospital, and his wife Mehrul lodged a complaint with us,” an officer with the Tilak Nagar police station said.
Hunt launched
The officer said that the Khans had identified and named Mr. Rana as the assailant, and based on their statements, a hunt was launched. Mr. Rana was nabbed from Chembur on Thursday evening and after his questioning two others, Yasin Ansari and Samid Tolkar, were also arrested.
Revenge bid
The police officer said, “Mr. Rana’s brother Inder was injured by some local residents in May this year during a fight that broke out when they asked him to not walk around without a face mask. The Khans had helped one of the accused, arrested in the case, get bail which infuriated Mr. Rana. Thursday’s attack was a bid to take revenge for that.”
The three have been charged with attempt to murder and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code along with relevant sections of the Arms Act. Efforts are on to trace the fourth person, police said.
