Jahid’s voter ID and purse lie at the murder site in Ranchi on Sunday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Dec. 19: A gang of three shot dead the owner of a makeshift shoe stall, 2km from the chief minister’s Kanke Road residence, this evening.

Police said Mohammed Jahid Mustafa (28) was killed in front of Jahaj Kothi near Rock Garden because he refused to bargain.

According to sources, the trio reached the stall on a bike around 7.30pm and selected a pair of shoes worth Rs 300. They, however, insisted on paying Rs 250. When Jahid refused, he received a bullet in the forehead. Passers-by rushed him to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, where doctors declared him brought dead.

SSP Praveen Kumar confirmed that a bargain dispute led to the killing. “We have registered a case of murder and are looking for the culprits.”

Mohammed Arif, brother-in-law of the victim, corroborated what the police said. But added: “As soon as my brother-in-law refused to accept what they offered, he was attacked, as if they had come prepared.”

A visit to the spot yielded a purse containing a voter ID that said the dead youth was a resident of UP’s Muzaffarnagar. He was running the stall in Kanke for three months.