Eight men on bikes fired indiscriminately on the house of a real estate businessman, who had strong links with a now dead gangster, late on Wednesday night in what seems to be a war of supremacy in Jamshedpur's Mango that has witnessed violent rivalry in the recent past.

Gunshots rattled Chatai Colony on Post Office Road around 11.45pm when most of its 5,000-odd residents, including target Amarnath Singh (30) and his family, were fast asleep. While as many as 10 rounds were fired from pistols, no one was injured as the bullets ricocheted off building walls in the congested neigbourhood.

Mango OC Kamleshwar Pandey said they had registered a case against Raja Sharma (33), a rising gangster with keen interest in real estate profits, and seven members of his gang, two of them identified as Ashish Srivastava and Ganesh, based on the complaint filed by Singh.

A post-midnight hunt launched for Sharma and his accomplices drew a blank though. Sources put the number of rounds fired at 10, but only six empty cartridges - five of 7.62mm pistol and one of a .315-bore gun - were found during spot investigations.

A Chatai Colony resident claimed that a few rounds were also fired from inside the two-storey house, but OC Pandey did not confirm the same.

Amarnath Singh - once the able lieutenant of gangster Paramjeet Singh who was shot dead in Ghaghidih Central Jail by rivals in 2009 - is said to have earned notoriety over the past four years for his arm-twisting real estate deals in Mango.

In his statement to police, Singh, however, denied having retaliated with fire. He said he was sleeping with his wife and their three-year-old son when the attack took place. Singh's younger brother was also present in the house.

Later, speaking to reporters, Singh conceded his erstwhile links with Paramjeet. "But, I left the gang long ago and started my own business. Raja Sharma is a criminal who is trying to gain ground in Mango. He targeted me to scare me away from real estate business," he said.

A local resident, who owns a transport business, said there was considerable panic in the colony after the attack. "I was about to go to bed when gunshots ripped through the silence of the night. We were scared to peep out and see what was happening. In the morning, we came to know that bike-borne criminals attacked a house in the neighbourhood. Our safety is at stake."

OC Pandey admitted that they suspected that the firing was the fallout of a brewing war of supremacy between Singh, whose gang is said to be dormant now, and up-and-coming gangster Sharma.

DSP (Headquarters-I) K.N. Mishra said so far no one had been arrested in connection with the incident. "Those involved in the attack are absconding. We have launched a manhunt," he said, adding that the assailants had come to the colony on three bikes.