Traders observe shutdown at Mani Sahu Chhak in Cuttack on Wednesday. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Nov. 13: Wholesale traders today extended their solidarity by closing shops at Malgodown in protest against the murder of a businessman.

Motorcycle-borne criminals entered the shop of Mohd Farook Tayab, a trader, asked his employees to leave the premises and gunned him down around 5pm yesterday.

Shop owners at Mani Sahu Chhak, Dargha Mastan Road and Cantonment and Howrah Motors Chhak, too, closed their establishments.

“We have observed a total shutdown in protest against the murder. All the traders at Malgodown and other parts are deeply shocked by the incident,” said Srikant Sahu, joint secretary of the Malgodown traders’ association.

Sahu said the traders had decided that all shops and business establishments would reopen and function from tomorrow.

The decision came in the wake of assurance from the district administration and police to beef up security measures for the traders at Malgodown.

However, the police have not yet made any arrests in connection with the crime.

The cops have formed special teams to probe into the involvement of suspected criminal gangs from other parts of the state, as there could be an extortion angle as well.

A senior official said that though it appeared that the trader had been killed over suspected rivalry, efforts were on to ascertain the exact motive while the statements of family members would also be recorded in connection with the case.

“We are probing into three angles including personal and business rivalry,” said deputy commissioner of police Sanjeev Arora.

Tayab, who hailed from Mani Sahu Chhak, was the leading wholesale and retail trader of pulses at Malgodown. Besides, he was also involved in a various social activities and was quite popular in his locality.

“My brother was doing good business and had no enmity with anyone,” said Tayab’s brother Mohd Iqbal.