Newindpress

Bangalore, Jul 20: Three high profile shootout cases in just six months is yet another reminder that the city is embracing the gun culture.

Most of these shootouts involved old rivalry, financial dealings and property disputes and most victims were well-to-do people. While some cases still remain unsolved, the city police seem complacent about the cases, which they dismiss as ‘stray’. The most recent shootout took place in the East Division.

On Tuesday night, a rowdysheeter and murder-accused Shahid, also a smalltime businessman, was shot dead at his house in Shivajinagar. Eyewitnesses say that it was a scene that shook the neighbourhood.

“Four men just barged into the house and shot him. This shows the offenders are least scared of the City Police,” he said.This incident took place just one week after the shootout at Indiranagar,where Madhusu dhan, MD of an event management company, was shot dead by two men at his office.

The police are yet to find out the motive for the murder. The Kerala and Mangalore gangs were about to get on each other’s throats in front of Mayo Hall on M G Road in the busy evening hours of a weekday.

The police, who were tipped-off on the gangs’ arrival, nabbed the six Kerala gang members. Joint Commissioner of Police Gopal B Hosur said that these were stray cases and that there was no need to tag Bangalore as unsafe.

Very candidly, he said, “Only three cases have been reported in the last six months, which is nothing compared to other metros like Mumbai, where such shootouts are a common affair.”

In February this year, the high profile murder of an employee of Shabnam Developers at Tilaknagar, threw light on the probable development of an underworld in Bangalore. Mumbaibased underworld don Ravi Poojari was found to be the man who plotted to murder. The police chargesheeted 16 people involved in the murder plot.

Teams to Probe Trader’s Shootout

The city police have formed two special teams to probe the shootout of a trader at his residence on Commercial Street on Tuesday night.

Police who suspect that an old rivalry may have led to the shootout, have sent the special teams to the victim’s hometown Meerut.Shahid (32) a CD/DVD trader was was shot dead by four assailants using a country-made revolver on Tuesday night.

They later fled.According to the police, Shahid was chargesheeted in six cases in Meerut and the police were looking for him. Shahid was also accused in two murders and two attempt to murder cases, besides possession of illegal arms and drug (ganja) dealing.According to sources, two people have been detained in connection with the case, one in Meerut and another in the city. Police refused to divulge any information or details of those detained.