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Journalism of Courage
VADODARA, FEB 11: In a sensational incident, prominent city-based builder Upendra Patel, 50, was shot at from point blank range, allegedly by a hired hitman, in the upmarket Alkapuri area of the city on Wednesday morning. Patel8217;s condition was critical, attendant doctors said in the evening.
While the police only said an alert had been sounded throughout the State and a watch mounted on the entry/exit points to the district, official sources told The Indian Express that the incident was an indication of the deepening mafia involvement in real estate affairs.
Panic gripped the locality even as two real estate businessmen 8211; reportedly from Ahmedabad and Mumbai 8211; travelling in the backseat alerted his family members and, along with the businessman8217;s nephew Ashok, rushed him to the Bhailal Amin Hospital. The tension was apparent among hospital staff and the police as well; policemen have been deployed at Patel8217;s bedside.
The driver, Ghulam Mohammed Pathan, meanwhile, was reported to be out of danger.
Though eyewitnesses tipped off the police about the assailant8217;s scooter number, the police said inquiries with the Regional Transport Office indicated it was false.
According to sources, Patel, and a builder by the name of Ranu Bharwad, had been involved in a number of disputes with a number of top builders from city and one from Mumbai; a couple of cases over allegedly forged land-deals are also pending against Patel in the Gorwa and J P Road police stations.
This is about the fifth sensational land-related crime to be committed in the city in thepast five years.
Police Commissioner J Mahapatra told The Indian Express that the police had made some headway in the case and opined that it was most probably a planned murder by a professional assailant, presumably from outside the State. He refused to elaborate further, saying the matter was under investigation.
