Bhubaneswar, Aug. 23: Capital police today detained two persons in connection with last night’s shooting in which a 25-year-old man was killed at Ganga Nagar.

Police said a motorcycle-borne youth had shot the victim, identified as Rakesh Nayak, and escaped. They suspect previous enmity led to the shooting. The victim’s brother, Santosh Nayak, said that last year, Rakesh had a fight with one Bilu, a history-sheeter from the same locality.

“We suspect him to have hired the man to kill my brother,” said Santosh.

The Capital police have detained Bilu and his brother who are being interrogated. “We hope to arrest the culprits soon,” said inspector in charge of Capital police station Aseem Panda.

Shops in the area remained closed today. Local residents, who said they did not feel secure any more, today took out a rally with the body in protest.

Subrat Biswal, a friend of the deceased, who could dodge the bullet by a whisker, said the man who had opened fire at them around 9.30pm was wearing a helmet.

“I survived as I jumped off the motorcycle on which I was sitting with Rakesh, who received bullets in his rib cage and right arm. He died while being shifted from Capital Hospital to a private hospital,” said Biswal.

Biswal said the killer was first spotted in the area around 9pm yesterday, when he along with Rakesh was chatting near Banadurga temple. “He slammed the brakes right in front of us and his motorcycle hit a child’s bicycle. The man in his 30s was wearing a helmet with its visor glass broken. Then he went away. He reappeared after 20 minutes and inquired about the boy whose bicycle he had hit. We pleaded ignorance and asked him to search for the boy on his own,” said Biswal.

The man went away only to return again after 10 minutes when Biswal and Rakesh were preparing to leave on their motorcycle.