Satara, June 20 (IANS) Panic gripped the twin hill-stations of Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani here when a businessman was shot dead by three unidentified assailants early Monday, police said.
The accused barged into a video game parlour-cum-residence on Bazar Road in Mahabaleshwar around 1 a.m. and tied up the owner, Bharat Pradeep Sathe. They then ransacked the parlour and managed to lay hands on Rs.95,000.
They shot Sathe in the neck and chest, said police officer K.N. Shelke.
Police have erected road blocks at Wai and Mahad -- the two main routes to Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani on the eastern and western sides respectively -- to nab the accused.
Situated in the Western Ghats, around 250 km from Mumbai and famous for strawberries, the two hill-stations have a combined population of around 25,000, besides a floating tourist population of another 25,000.