Controversial Surat builder Grover shot dead

Two youths, who were apparently waiting in the parking-lot, first fired two rounds at the armed bodyguard Ramsinh Rajput and later shot the 47-year-old builder point-blank around 2.30 pm.

While, one bullet pierced his chest, the second passed through his stomach. The first one proved fatal as he fell near the compound-wall. He was taken to the Mahavir Hospital where he was pronounced dead on admission. Ramsinh was admitted to the same hospital where his condition was reported to be critical. Driver Raju Marwadi was safe because he did not get out of the car, and is believed to have seen one of the killers.

The police received one bullet intact from the spot. Sources quoting eyewitnesses said the two killers fled from the scene on a bike. A top official told The Indian Express that “it was definitely not the handiwork of local hitmen. The killers were professionals.”

As many as 11 cases of land-grabbing and extortion were registered against Grover over the last few years. A case of atrocity was also registered against him because one of the complainants was a scheduled caste charitable trust.

Grover was believed to have amassed property, including land and estate, worth crores of rupees during the last couple of decades that chronicled his rise from a small-time operator to a big builder dealing in hundreds of crores. In fact, his property estimates ranged from Rs 200 to Rs 300 crore.

He was booked under Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Act after the arrest of Dilip Maratha, one of the henchmen of Chhota Rajan gang. Maratha and Asif Amdavadi, another dreaded criminal, were killed in an encounter with the police.

Maratha had confirmed the involvement of Rajan gang in Surat and his connections with the builder. The Rajan gang used to help Grover in his land-grabbing activities. Mumbai-based O P Singh, a close confidant of Rajan and in-charge of his Gujarat operations, was in constant touch with Grover and Dharmendra Punjabi, who is now detained under PASA.

Such was the clout wielded by Grover that the then additional commissioner of police P C Thakur could not take action against the Umara police station inspector Anirudhsinh Jadeja, who was not cooperating with Thakur in investigations.

Thakur had even suspended Jadeja, who got his suspension revoked and was posted at the same Umara police station, where all the 11 cases against Grover are registered. Thakur had filed an affidavit in the Gujarat High Court saying that Grover had links with the Rajan gang.

Grover, who was released from the PASA detention late last year, was also associated with Farookh Munshi, another dreaded underworld element, who died in an encounter with the police.