Trigger-happy men kill 2, hurt 9

MUMBAI, January 7: In a shocking incident two men opened indiscriminate fire injuring nine persons after shooting dead two others at Chan...

MUMBAI, January 7: In a shocking incident two men opened indiscriminate fire injuring nine persons after shooting dead two others at Chandanwadi, a short distance away from the Marine Lines station this evening. The assailants later simply walked away from the spot.

According to preliminary reports, Sunil Pawar 21 and Jitendra Sura were shot at Samradas Gandhi junction near the Chandanwadi crematorium by two unidentified persons at around 7 pm today. The assailants are believed to have been waiting for the two men in front of the crematorium. Sura, an employee of a medical firm Anchor Pharma at Kalbadevi was hit four times, while Pawar was hit twice. Both of them were declared dead before admission at the Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital.

In a bid to scare off people in the vicinity the duo then started firing indiscriminately around injuring five passersby.

Jatashanker Upadhyay, a resident of Bhayander, was walking towards the Marine Lines station on his way home, when he heard gunshots nearby. 8220;Before Iknew it, I was hit by a bullet in the chest,8221; Upadhyay told Express Newsline while being wheeled into the casualty ward of the Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital near the city Police Commissionerate. He fell down on the footpath and was rushed to the hospital by residents of the locality.

The other injured include Mahesh Salad, a 20-year-old student of chartered accountancy, who was hit by a bullet in the groin. Khenji Manji Holdar, a watchman at a nearby water tank, was manning his post when he was hit in his stomach. Pandit Sukhji Awasthi 40, Vijay Suri and Ashok Jamsandekar 40, who were also walking along the road, received bullet injuries and are stated to be in a serious condition by doctors. Two others Pravin Pathak and K Thakkar were standing near the spot and got hit in the melee. The identity of the ninth victim was yet to be ascertained at the time of going to press.As soon as the news spread, relatives of the injured swarmed ward number 1 and 5 of the hospital where they have been admitted. Shockedat the incident, many of them expressed surprise at the need for the assailants to open fire at bystanders. 8220;They could have just run away, why did the have to shoot innocent people,8221; asked an incredulous relation of Holdar. Doctors stated that the condition of the watchman is serious.

Commissioner of Police Ronnie Mendonca and Joint Commissioner of Police Crime D Sivanandhan visited the spot and the hospital to take stock of the situation. Though the motive behind the shooting is yet to be ascertained, the police have refused to rule out links of the deceased with the underworld.

Meanwhile, residents of the locality expressed shock over the incident. Immediately after the incident occurred the shops in the area closed their shutters and vehicles went off the roads. 8220;No one knew what happened until they saw people slumping to the ground, then all of us ran away,8221; said a vegetable vendor even as the police cordoned off the spot.

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This is the second time that Chandanwadi has witnessed suchmeaningless killings. Ten years ago, a schoolboy was killed when he was caught between a cross-fire involving the Amar Naik gang.

Senior police officers are camping at the hospital, while officials of the Crime Branch and the LT Marg police station, under which the area falls, took the panchnama from the injured.